THE AFTERMATH: A procession of families made their way through the desolate pavilions of an exhibition park in north Madrid yesterday.
Walking in threes, men weeping and supporting crying women, they left the make-shift morgue knowing that their loved ones are among the 199 fatalities of Thursday's atrocities.
That is just one of the tragic scenes at the centre where 67 bodies have still to be identified. Of these, 27 are mutilated beyond recognition and are to be transferred to a forensic science laboratory where specialists will try to identify them. A team of over 40 forensic scientists is working with over 380 volunteers.
About 50 families are keeping vigil at the morgue, awaiting for news.
The atmosphere was more subdued than Thursday - exhaustion and anguish have lulled the anger and confused excitement evident in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist outrage.
"It is horrible, many arrive after going from hospital to hospital around the city. This is their last choice, the last place they think they can find their loved ones," said Javier Llamazares, a volunteer from the Spanish Cancer Association, who has been working at the centre for over 24 hours.
Others, from organisations such as the Red Cross, the Emergency Services of Madrid, and medical services, have travelled from around the country to help.
Food, water, temporary accommodation and psychological support is offered to the relatives as they wait for their names to be called out. Once the call comes they are taken by a psychologist to identify the remains of their relatives.
The trauma and strain is evident on every face and each identification brings more stories of sadness. One Filipino woman searched every hospital in the city yesterday before arriving at the morgue to identify her son who was burned almost beyond recognition.
Sisters Jeanette and Gisela Llanga, immigrants from Ecuador, were looking for brother Luis Gustavo, and cousin Angel. The men went missing after taking a train to Madrid's main railway station, Atocha.
The sisters had already called hospitals in their 24-hour search before joining hundreds of others gathered at the makeshift morgue. "There are bodies that haven't been identified yet. I need to find out. I'm so worried because I don't know anything," said Gisela, 26. Steeling themselves for the worst, they waited on the second floor of the centre while officials brought up a list of dead from the morgue downstairs.
Mercedes Lopezosa's search for her 31-year-old cousin and his 28-year-old wife, married 10 months ago, had already ended. Police had told her they were dead, and the Madrid housewife was waiting to confirm that the bodies were at the morgue.
"The bodies must be in a terrible state," she said. "It's so painful."
Of the more than 1,400 injured, 367 people remained in hospital, 50 in serious condition, authorities said.
Psychologist and social worker at the makeshift morgue, Begoma Cevallos, said that people were waiting without any hope, expecting the worst. Cevallos who also attended families at one of Madrid's central hospitals, Hospital Gregorio Marañón, yesterday said: "The most moving moment for me was when I saw a family explode with emotion, all crying and holding each other, after a psychologist told them that their relative was here. They just collapsed with despair."
Translators are also on stand by as many of the victims are from Central and South America, Morocco and eastern Europe. As many of those still missing are believed to be illegal immigrants, the Department of the Interior announced that all victims and their families would be given Spanish nationality. The measure is hoped to encourage families to come forward.
A sense of errie calm was also evident at Hospital Gregorio Marañón where 70 people were still being treated for injuries. They included three pregnant women. Of the 70, 54 were in a critical condition.
As the day drew to a close and most people melted away, only a few family members remained last night, still waiting to find out more information about missing relatives.
"Yesterday was more hopeful," said Marieta Vezquez, a volunteer at IFEMA. "Today it's just despair."
The victims were from 11 countries, including Spain, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said yesterday.
"There are nationals from 11 countries," he told a news conference.
As well as the Spanish victims, there was one Chilean, one Cuban, three Peruvians, one Ecuadorian, one from Guinea Bissau, two Hondurans, two Poles, one French, one Moroccan and one Colombian, Mr Aznar said.