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Blast at Bilbao newspaper blamed on ETA

Bilbao - Blast at El Correo
Bilbao - Blast at El Correo

An explosion blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA has damaged the printing press of a Spanish newspaper near the city of Bilbao.

No one was injured but around 50 people were working in the El Correo newspaper's facility at the time of the blast.

The device was packed with five kilograms of explosives and was hidden behind the building.

The newspaper has a circulation figure of around 150,000 and is part of the Vocento media group, which publishes the right-leaning Madrid daily.

Juan Carlos Martinez, the daily's chief editor, said: 'ETA cannot achieve its objectives. We will continue with our work.'

The blast comes exactly four decades after ETA staged its first  attack, which claimed the life of a 25-year-old civil guard named  Jose Pardines.

The group in recent years has targeted the military and  politicians but avoided the media.