Spanish blast blamed on ETA youth

Basque police examine the car in which a booby-trapped toy blinded a 16-month toddler

MADRID, Spain -- An explosion that killed a 62-year-old woman and blinded her 16-month-old grandson has been blamed by a government minister on youth supporters of Basque separatist group ETA.

The blast at 10.45 a.m. (0845 GMT) on Monday in the coastal resort of San Sebastian was triggered when the toddler began playing with a booby-trapped toy car his aunt had found in the bar-restaurant where she worked.

The boy's four-year-old brother was also slightly injured in the blast. His aunt and mother escaped unhurt.

In the aftermath of the explosion, which caused revulsion across Spain, the regional Basque government -- dominated by the Basque Nationalist Party -- said it did not believe anyone associated with ETA was responsible.

On Tuesday, however, Spanish Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy said the bomb might have been discarded by youth ETA members following an illegal protest on Saturday.

"Evidence from the Interior Minsitry suggests this was a classic example of 'kale borroka'," Rajoy told Reuters, referring to a particular type of street-violence used by young ETA supporters.

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No one has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion, and police investigations are continuing.

"The absolute priority for the government and police is to investigate the murder, the barbarity which yesterday occured in San Sebastian," Basque regional government spokesman Josu Jon Imaz told Reuters.

The injured boy, identified only as Jokin G.C., was said by health officials to be on a life-support machine and "in very serious condition" at San Sebastian's Donostia Hospital following nine hours of surgery.

They confirmed that he had lost the sight of both eyes and suffered brain damage and a mutilated hand as a result of the blast, as well as severe facial burns.

He and his family were visited in hospital on Tuesday by Basque President Juan Jose Ibarretxe and the regional government's security advisor Mikel Legarda.

In a separate incident in the town of Abadino, 70 kms (40 miles) west of San Sebastian, firebombs were hurled at the home of a Basque policeman.

No one was hurt in the attack, which local police believe was carried out by a youth gang sympathetic to ETA.

In a campaign of violence spanning three decades ETA -- the name stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, Basque for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" -- have killed more than 800 people and injured numerous others.

They usually target policemen, military personel or politicians, although the group have recently been carrying out bomb attacks on holiday resorts in an attempt to damage Spain's tourist industry.