One dead, 8 injured in Madrid terrorist hunt

A police officer was killed and eight other people were injured in an explosion in a Madrid suburb last night where police were hunting for suspects in the March 11 bombings in the city.

Gunfire and an explosion were heard in the district of Leganes. Interior ministry spokesman Richard Ibanez confirmed an operation was under way in the hunt for suspects in the al-Qaeda-linked train bombings that killed 191 people. One local news agency said police were trying to arrest three people who had taken refuge in a block of flats when the explosion occured.

About 40 homes in the area were evacuated. Spain is holding 15 people, many of them Moroccan, over the earlier commuter train bombings.

Interior minister Angel Acebes said earlier that a bomb found on a Spanish high-speed rail track on Friday contained the same explosive and may have a similar detonator to the bombs that blew up four commuter trains last month.

Copyright 2004 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.