SPAIN: Spain has lowered the official death toll from the suspected al-Qaeda-linked March 11th train bombings to 190 from 202, forensic investigators said yesterday.
The chief of scientific police said confusion had arisen because 13 bags of human remains had been brought in from the sites of the attacks and officials had tallied these up as new victims when in fact they belonged to casualties already found.
"The list of the dead who have been identified adds up to 190, including one unborn baby," Carlos Corrales told a news conference. "Probably, almost certainly, [the body parts\] belong to deceased people who have already been fully identified or to people who are alive in hospital but have lost a limb," he said.
Carmen Baladia, head of Spain's Forensic Anatomical Institute, dismissed media reports suggesting there was a suicide bomber among the dead.
At least 47 people from 14 countries other than Spain were among the dead. The non-Spanish fatalities are: one from Brazil; four from Bulgaria; one from Chile; two from Colombia; one from Cuba; five from Ecuador; one from France; one from Guinea Bissau; two from Honduras; three from Morocco; four from Poland; 16 from Romania; four from Peru; and two from Ukraine. - (Reuters)