Dud bomb the big break

MADRID - The luckiest break in the investigation of the Madrid train bombings - finding an unexploded bomb - has again delivered spectacular results.


The police swoop on a house in Leganes came after a suspect activated a mobile phone SIM card, tipping off investigators to his whereabouts.

Police knew about a batch of pre-paid SIM cards that were probably in the possession of the bombers because one of them was recovered with the unexploded bomb.

Ten bombs on board four packed commuter trains went off almost simultaneously on March 11, killing 191 people and wounding 1900 others.

Three other bombs that did not go off were destroyed on the spot in controlled explosions.

But one more dud went undetected for 12 hours until a mobile phone alarm sounded in luggage that had been taken from the bombed trains to a police station.

The mobile phone alarm was rigged to trigger the detonator, but it had been set for 7.40pm instead of 7.40am.

Had the detonator functioned, it would have blown up the police station. Instead police traced its pre-paid SIM card to a small mobile phone shop in Madrid.


Evidence gathered at the shop has led to all 24 arrests so far. Nine of those have been set free, leaving 15 in jail.

- REUTERS