TW
0

Palma.—The President of the Balearics, Jose Ramon Bauza, presided over a memorial service in Palma Nova yesterday in honour of the two members of the Guardia Civil who were killed by an ETA terrorist attack on 30 June, 2009.

At 1:50pm a 3 kilograms (6.6 lb) bomb placed under a Civil Guard Nissan Patrol went off, killing officers Carlos Saénz de Tejada García and Diego Salva Lezaun.

One of the officers died instantly, while paramedics failed to resuscitate the other officer. Both officers were inside the car when the bomb exploded.
A second device was found shortly after by a German Shepherd sniffer dog called Ajax which has since been decorated for detecting the bomb and saving the lives of scores of people in the popular holiday resort.

The bombing was ETA's first attack in Majorca since it tried to kill King Juan Carlos in Palma in the summer of 1995, and its deadliest attack since it killed two Civil Guard officers in Capbreton, France in 2007.

The attack came on the eve of the 50th anniversary of ETA's founding, and days before the King's yearly visit to Majorca. Yesterday, Bauza was joined by local dignitaries, senior members of the security forces, the general public and relatives of the victims.