This Christian Life

In Memoriam - Madrid

Good friends of ours, Robyn and Samuel, live in Madrid, not far from the place bombs killed and injured many people on trains two days ago, March 11, 2004. They rely on using that train system every week and were fortunate not to be on them when the attacks came. They have both written about the experience, describing it very simliarly to the unforgettable terrorist attacks on New York’s twin towers September 11, 2001.

Here’s an excerpt from Samuel’s memorial:

…the largest terrorist attack in Europe since the explosion of Pan Am 103 a little more than 15 years ago. It’s hard to understand the numbers: 192 dead and 1,421 injured. Even living in Madrid, less than two miles from the epicenter, these figures feel distant and detached. It only becomes real when I consider my friend Mati who rode with a friend today to work instead of riding a train that would have passed through the blast area. Or when I think of Johana who could have easily been on one of those trains if today was Wednesday or Friday instead of Thursday. Thursday 11 March 2004—it’s a day I wont soon forget. Today my wife boarded a train that had just left Atocah at 7:09 AM and traveled north of the city getting off at 7:39 just moments after a series of bombs blew a train just like hers to pieces.

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