Cottey students safe after Madrid bombings

Thursday, March 11, 2004

By Steve Moyer

Cottey College seniors on a trip to Madrid came close to the dangers of terrorism on their annual overseas trip. Despite the explosions in the train stations in the city of Madrid the Cottey students and their chaperones are all safe. Cottey student Julie Bryant, 19, North Ridgeland, Texas, said that everyone was accounted for and that her hotel was not close to any of the explosions. "It's a terrible thing. It's like 9/11 Spanish style. We're OK though. The hotel is downtown and the stations where the bombs were are on the outskirts."

Ten terrorist bombs blasted three Madrid train stations at the height of the morning rush hour Thursday, killing more than 170 people and wounding at least 600 before this weekend's general elections. Officials blamed Basque separatists for the worst terror attack in Spanish history.

Julie's father, Mark Bryant, said that a mix-up over phone numbers kept him from reaching his daughter as soon as he would have liked. "Julie gave me a phone number but it wasn't the right one. We have someone who works for us, Edna, and she's from Ecuador. She spoke Spanish to the man that answered the phone and he looked up the number for the hotel in the phone book."

After all that, Bryant still didn't get to speak to his daughter the first time he tried. "The switchboard was all tied up. I tried to call but couldn't get through. I waited more than 10 minutes on hold but I thought that was enough money at international rates. I figured I'd try again later."

Julie said her concern was more for one of her tour guides and her family. "One of our tour guides, Carmen, is from Madrid and we're more worried about her and her family than anything else."

Today is supposed to be a day for the students to find their own activities to enjoy but the bombings have put a damper on spirits. "The only real difference today is that their is a lot of concern about riding the Metro."

Steve Reed, Cottey director of public relations said this incident isn't the first time a group of Cottey students has been close to a terrorist incident. "Four years ago in London the IRA bombed an Underground station. Europeans have been dealing with this for years. The British closed off the station so you couldn't get in from above and the trains simply went right on past."

Before today's bombings, the Basque separatist group ETA had been blamed for more than 800 deaths in its decades-old campaign to carve an independent Basque homeland from territory straddling northern Spain and southwest France.

''ETA had been looking for a massacre in Spain,'' Interior Minister Angel Acebes said after an emergency cabinet meeting. ''Unfortunately, today it achieved its goal.''

He said security services knew ETA was responsible because the group tried a similar attack on Christmas Eve, placing bombs on two trains bound for a station that was not hit Thursday. He also noted the Feb. 29 police interception of a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 1,100 pounds of explosives. Authorities blamed ETA.

According to Reed, classes at Cottey resume on Monday, March 22, and all students are expected to return to campus some time during the preceding weekend.

Associated Press Writer Mar Roman contributed to this story

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