A bomb hidden in a toy killed a woman in Spain's Basque region Monday and left her 16-month-old grandson blinded and in grave condition with a fractured skull and brain damage.
Five specialists performed emergency surgery on the child, who was also badly burned.
His four-year-old brother escaped with minor injuries, and the mother was unharmed. All were inside the family car.
The dead woman was identified as Francisca Araunzetamurgil Alkorta, 62. She died when a piece of the toy cut the carotid artery in her neck, causing hemorrhaging.
Earlier reports had given her age as 40.
It was not immediately known who was responsible.
The explosion was not seen as typical of those usually attributed to the Basque separatist group ETA, responsible for a long-standing campaign of violence to obtain independence for the Basque country.
Police said the low-impact device had been hidden in a small, remote controlled toy car left Saturday in a bar owned by the family in San Sebastian.
It apparently exploded when the child was playing with the small toy inside the car.
The child, described as in very serious condition, had suffered a skull fracture with loss of brain matter, cerebral hemhorraging and loss of both eyes, said hospital director Juan Jose Mugica. His brother suffered superficial hand, chest and ear injuries.
Two toys, the car and a toy giraffe, had been left in the bar last Saturday.
When no one claimed the toys, the bar owners gave them to their children.
Investigators had no immediate information on who was behind the incident and were cautious about speculating. "We are keeping an open mind," Basque deputy Interior Minister Mikel Legarda told journalists.
First reports indicated there had been no known threats against the family.
Police immediately sealed off an area within a radius of 150 meters (yards) around the site of the explosion, fearing there might be another explosive device in the vicinity.
On Saturday, a car bomb exploded at a hotel carpark in the Spanish coastal resort of Salou near Barcelona, injuring 10 people, in what was seen as an ETA attempt to disrupt the Spanish tourist industry.
None of the injuries was serious, although the car had been packed with 40-50 kilos (88-110 pounds) of dynamite.
Officials from the interior ministry in Madrid and their counterparts from the Basque and Catalan regional governments were scheduled to confer Monday over the car bomb explosion, official sources said.
In recent weeks, the ETA has attacked mainly tourist and economic interests along the Spanish coast.
The last fatal attacks in the Spanish Basque country took place on July 14. In one, a municipal councilor was killed when a bomb planted underneath his car exploded. A policeman was meanwhile shot dead. Both incidents were blamed by authorities on the ETA -- SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (AFP)
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