Explosion rips through station in Basque region

MADRID, Feb 5 (Reuters) At least one explosion ripped through a train station at Lutxana in Spain's Basque region today in the early hours, blowing out doors and windows but injuring no one, police said.

Lutxana's mayor, Tontxu Rodriguez, told state radio a second blast went off minutes later, though police could not immediately confirm this. Firefighters fought to control the subsequent fire for at least three hours.

A source at the Basque interior ministry told the news agency EFE that it seemed likely a bomb, probably home-made, had caused the blast.

However, police said it was too early to say who or what had caused the explosion. ''At the moment we are waiting for more information from the explosives experts'', a spokesman for the Basque police told Reuters.

The station blast came hours after the arrests of 18 people suspected of belonging to youth organisations which Spain's Supreme Court has ruled are ''terrorist organisations'' linked to Basque separatist group ETA.

The groups are believed to be behind street violence which has scarred the Basque country, even continuing during ETA's ceasefire which ended when a bomb exploded at Madrid airport on December 30, killing two people.

Mayor Rodriguez warned against prematurely pointing the finger against any organisation before the investigation is completed, but added: ''This isn't the road to peace and freedom.

''This only manages to make the daily life of ordinary citizens difficult.'' REUTERS DKA RN1526