At least 15 people were feared dead after three explosions on packed commuter trains in Madrid during the Thursday morning rush hour in an attack that police said appeared to be the work of Basque separatist group ETA.

Spanish television news station CNN+, quoting emergency services, said there were at least 15 dead in the attack three days before a national election. A police spokesman said: "That's the figure they are talking to me about."

News reports said two bombs went off in a commuter train arriving at bustling Atocha station.

Blasts rocked two other stops on a commuter line leading to Atocha, the news agency Efe reported. Spanish national radio quoted witnesses as saying they saw people lying on the ground and train cars destroyed.

There was no claim of responsibility but police have been on high alert for attacks by the militant Basque separatist group ETA ahead of general elections Sunday.

An Associated Press reporter saw a woman with a bloodied face outside Atocha station. Medics were seen treating at least three people. One man was taken away on a stretcher.

People living near the station said they heard at least two blasts.

Atocha is a huge downtown complex with a subway station and both commuter and long-distance trains.

About an hour after the blasts, people who had gathered blocks from the Atocha station stampeded away, apparently fearing another bomb.

(China Daily March 11, 2004)