Just saw that there's been a big terrorist attack in Spain

[Rachels]

How horrifying. This is SO scary to me! My thoughts and prayers are with the families whose loved ones were lost today:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/11/spain.blasts/index.html

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[friedmana1]

Sigh. I heard about it on the radio this morning, and gasped. It's amazing how some people in the world think that they need to kill others to make a point. Life is so precious. Things like this make me hug my loved ones a little harder.

Aimee
Mother to Leah 10/26/02

[cuca_]

Definitely horrifying. Right at rush hour, how scary. I just hear in the news that Al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for it... don't know if it is true or not. I had heard earlier that it was the work of the ETA. What a scary world we live in.

Carmen

[parkersmama]

How awful! I'm just now seeing this. Guess I haven't kept up with the news today. This is so very sad. Also wanting to just keep my kiddos close to me. :(

[jd11365]

I was on those trains the week before I got pregnant...how terrifying. I'm so saddened by this.

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
May '03

[emmiem]

We are leaving to go to Spain this Sunday. Our first 3 days will be in Madrid. Needless to say, I am a little nervous. It will probably be safer now than before but part of me is very anxious.
Michele

[MartiesMom2B]

Does anyone know if there is a list of those who died on the trains? I was a foreign exchange student during high school and want to make sure that no one I knew passed away.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[mamicka]

It was actually quite horrifying. We were only about 1.5 miles from the bombings. We had arrived back in Madrid at the Atocha train station less than 24 hours prior & stayed overnight, ready to fly back to the US that morning. Our original plans were to arrive by train the morning of the bombings, within an hour. We only changed our plans to arrive the day before because we didn't want to leave in the middle of the night.

Early that morning, we were laying in bed with the window open, trying to sleep. I just had a really bad feeling that whole night. I chalked it up to being uncomfortable with the window being open in a strange city & asked DH to close it, but still felt really uneasy. As soon as we saw the news on TV that morning, I couldn't believe it. We packed-up our things & hurried out to catch a cab to the airport. We got in the taxi line at about 9am & it took us about 20 minutes to get a cab. In that time, I couldn't count the number of police or ambulance that passed by. It was pretty chaotic. I did a pretty good job of holding it together until the police vans & city buses (with full police escort) started going by, just 10-15 feet in front of us. I couldn't help letting out a few tears, they were just full of injured people slumped over. Without being gruesome, you could see some of their injuries.

I don't think I quite believe it yet. Just glad we're home, giving DS & DH extra hugs.

[Rachels]

OMG, how traumatizing! I'm so sorry. Instinct is amazing, isn't it?! I'm glad you guys are home safely. If you find that you need some support for what you witnessed, let us know. We're here for you.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[Grace_underfire]

I am from in Spain, not from Madrid but have friends in Madrid and I just can't believe what happened. It really made me feel like 9-11 had hit home now... the scale is much smaller but our country is also so much smaller that it has just been devastating. Any loss of life is but a mass murder like this where so many people die because of the hatred of others is just unconceivable.
I just heard from my aunt that a little 7 month old baby died in the hospital and that a little 10-11 yr old boy was buring both his parents. It is so sad... I am so thankful that my family was ok.

So glad to hear that you were safe although it was so close. I think now I will worry when I take my son and DH to see my relatives...