Suspected Eta car bomb kills two in resort

A car bomb killed two people, including a six-year-old girl, near a crowded bus stop and a police barracks yesterday in the Spanish resort of Santa Pola, officials said.

Francisco Camps, a representative for the Interior Ministry, said a man aged 50 and a the young girl had been killed by the blast. Police sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the car bomb exploded shortly after 8.30pm local time (7.30pm BST).

Judge Gordiano Casas, who is in charge of the investigation, confirmed that the girl killed was the daughter of a member of the Civil Guard, and was playing in her bedroom when she was hit by falling furniture. The other fatality was a man waiting at the bus stop who died instantly, Mr Casas said.

A further 25 people were reported injured with cuts and burns but only two remained in serious condition in hospital. Most of the victims were people waiting for the bus after spending the day at the beach, news reports said.

Television footage showed heavy damage at the Civil Guard barracks. The front of the building had been blown apart and fragments were strewn all over the street. Tenants' belongings, including beds and refrigerators, could be seen from outside.

Electricity and telephone networks in many areas of Santa Pola were also affected by the blast, emergency workers said. Police immediately cordoned off the surrounding streets, fearing another car bomb in the area.

Santa Pola, on Spain's southeastern coast about 400km (250 miles) from Madrid, is packed with tourists in August.

Although the cause of the blast was not confirmed last night, the Basque separatist group Eta has frequently used car bombs as part of its 32-year campaign for Basque independence, in which about 800 people have been killed.

Eta's most recent fatal attack came on 21 March, when a Socialist politician was shot dead in a bar in the Basque town of Orig.

Rodolfo Ares, a Socialist from the northern Basque region, said after hearing the news yesterday: "Eta has shown one more than time that it is the enemy of this country." Rita Barbara, the mayor of Valencia, in the same region as Santa Pola, added: "The death of this little girl makes this attack even more horrible."

Recently, the armed group has claimed responsibility for several car bombs around the country, including five explosions that coincided with the European Union summit in Seville in June. There were no casualties and they were seen as part of Eta's campaign to generate fear rather than to kill.

Spain, America and the European Union have called Eta a terrorist organisation.