Sunday, November 04, 2007

Hechos Probados....How The Bombs Were Planted

On March 11th 2004 three unidentified members of the terrorist cell travelled to the town of Alcalá de Henares in a white Renault Kangoo van, carrying various sports bags or rucksacks containing explosive devices. The van belonged to José Garzón Gómez, and had been stolen by unknown persons at some point between 13:00 on the 27th February 2004, and 01:00 on the following day from where it was parked at number 15 Calle Aranjuez in Madrid.

Shortly before 7:00 a.m. on the day of the bombings, the occupants of this vehicle parked it in the Calle del Infantado, a street close to the railway station. They were seen here by the caretaker of a nearby building. On leaving the vehicle, they made their way towards the station and placed an unknown number of bags containing explosive devices in various trains heading towards Madrid. At the same time other members of the group did the same, boarding the trains in unidentified stations on the route between Alcalá and Atocha station in Madrid.

One member of the group, who has not been identified beyond all doubt, was seen at approximately 7:45 a.m. changing his clothes between two huts on a building site located on the Gran Via del Este opposite the railway station of Vicálvaro. In this place abandoned clothes were found. Genetic profiles detected on these clothes included that of the accused Otman el Gnaoui.



Footnote: The Kangoo van has of course been one of the main targets for the conspiracy theorists because it was the first significant piece of evidence pointing towards Islamist responsibility for the bombings. The court has accepted it as valid evidence for the transport of some of the bombers and the devices they planted. However, this is all we know about the planting of the bombs. There were thirteen devices in total so it is reasonable to assume that other vehicles were involved as well as more than three people. This vehicle was left in Alcalá, it is not known how those planting the bombs managed to return to their homes or hiding places

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