Tufts in Madrid students found themselves in the middle of an international catastrophe yesterday when ten bombs exploded in three commuter train stations.
One of the bomb sites, Atocha station, is frequently used by Tufts in Madrid students. At least 192 people were killed, and more than twelve hundred more were injured by the blasts.
No Tufts students were injured in the attack, Tufts Programs Abroad Director Sheila Bayne said. Due to a professors strike, most universities did not hold classes yesterday. This reduced the chances of students -- both Spanish and foreign -- being injured in the blasts.
Madrid Program Director Angel Berenguer and Bayne have been communicating electronically since the explosion. Telephone circuits were jammed throughout the day.
The bombing triggered standard emergency response procedures that are in place for all Tufts study abroad programs, Bayne said. Students were told to keep their cell phones on and be reachable at all times. The students were also given phone numbers where their resident directors could be reached.
Atocha station is used by students at both universities in the Tufts in Madrid program. Approximately half the students who attend the Tufts program take classes at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and the other half attend Alcala. Depending where they live, Autonoma students sometimes used Atocha station to commute to classes. While Alacala students do not live in the city, they have to travel through Atocha to attend weekly meetings in the downtown area Recolebtos.
The directors have encouraged students to e-mail and call parents and relatives to assure them of their safety. The office has also updated the Tufts Programs Abroad website with current information and sent out a letter detailing emergency procedures to parents.
"People have done a good job of staying in touch with home," Bayne said. She said the fact that only two parents had directly contacted the Tufts office was proof that information was being disseminated well by students.
The Tufts group will leave Madrid today on a pre-planned spring excursion to the province of Extremadura. The group will take taxis or buses to reach the excursion bus departure location instead of the commuter rail.
The timing of the trip is regarded as a blessing by some administrators. "Our resident directors said it will be a good thing to get out of the city and out of the chaos for a while," Bayne said.
The office has also been in contact with students who are studying with non-Tufts programs. "All of the American programs that are operating in Spain have been sharing information," Bayne said.
By yesterday afternoon, Bayne had been in contact with the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), the Institute for the International Education of Students, New York University, and the Brethren Colleges Abroad programs.
Tufts students who had previously studied on the Madrid program reacted to the bombings yesterday. "Honestly, I was shocked, just like everyone else," Senior Andrea Bahiman said. "Watching it on the news was horrible."
Bahiman studied last year at Alcala, and had already heard from the program director and her host family, both of whom were unharmed. Despite the attacks, Bahiman has not cancelled a spring break trip back to Madrid.
Senior Courtney Benson used Atocha station almost everyday when she studied in Madrid. "When I heard about the bombings I was trying to figure out where I would have normally been on a Thursday morning," she said. "Sometimes I was definitely sleeping, but by second semester I would be in the station early to get to my internship."
"I definitely know people who travel that route every day," she said.
The entire country has been placed on "highest alert," after what is being called "Spain's Sept. 11."
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attacks. The government blamed the Basque separatist group ETA. Other officials noted that the bombings carried the hallmarks of the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. A group with ties to al-Qaeda, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade, claimed responsibility in a letter sent to an Arabic-language newspaper yesterday. The letter could not be authenticated and the government is investigating both possibilities.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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