A booby-trapped toy car exploded in northern Spain today, killing a woman and blinding her 16-month-old grandson, but officials said the blast did not appear to be the work of the Basque separatist group ETA.
The toy blew up inside a car in the Basque city of San Sebastian, seriously injuring the child and killing his 62-year-old grandmother, officials said.
Nine hours after the explosion, the regional Basque government said in a statement that a metallic recipient holding explosives, probably gunpowder, had been concealed inside the toy and primed to blow up when it was switched on.
But the type of bomb and the fact it had been left in a lavatory of a bar with no specific target do not point necessarily towards the groups that recently have promoted violence and terrorism in the Basque region , it said.
ETA carries out bomb attacks in the Basque Country and other parts of Spain as part of its three-decade violent campaign for an independent state that has claimed about 800 lives. The Basque government's statement said all lines of investigation remained open.
The toy car had been found on Saturday along with a model giraffe in the bar which belonged to the family of the victims.
Today, the toys were given to the children to play with before the group set off in their car, officials said.
Speculation about the cause of the blast had included an ETA bomb attack and then, after police said they had initially found no traces of explosives, a freak accident caused by the motor of the toy.
The child was still undergoing emergency surgery in a hospital in San Sebastian on this evening, state radio said.
Earlier, a hospital official said the boy had lost sight in both eyes as well as suffering brain damage and the mutilation of one hand.
His brother, aged four, was slightly injured and the car's other occupants - the child's mother and aunt - were unhurt.
If ETA were behind today's explosion, it would represent a change in tactics by the group, which usually targets politicians and members of the security forces with car bombs and shootings.
In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, Mr Javier Rojo, leader of the Socialist Party in the Basque Country, described the blast as an horrendous terrorist attack .