A MELTHAM family have found themselves caught up in a suspected terrorist attack in Majorca.

The Crowther family are on holiday on the island. But yesterday, police sealed off Majorca after a suspected ETA car bomb attack.

Two police officers were killed after their booby-trapped car exploded outside their barracks in the Palma Nova resort around lunchtime.

A second bomb was found beneath a car nearby but it was de-activated by police.

The attack comes only a day after a car bomb explosion outside a Civil Guard barracks in the northern Spanish city of Burgos injured about 60 people.

Authorities immediately launched “Operation Cage” to close the ports and airport in a bid to prevent the bombers from escaping.

The move, in peak holiday season, left many tourists trapped, causing chaos and was a further blow to the island’s tourist-based economy.

Meltham man, John Crowther, who is on holiday at the resort with his wife Adele and teenage daughters Amy and Emily, said they had witnessed the explosion from their hotel.

He said: “We heard a loud bang, it shook the room, so we looked out of the balcony and could see loads of smoke and a car on fire.

“We could see it was on the next street over from us so we walked to the end of the street and there were a few police.

“The flames were about 12-15 ft high.”

Speaking to the Examiner a few hours after the blast, Mr Crowther said his family had been stranded in another hotel after police sealed off the street outside their hotel, preventing them from getting back in.

John said they were only two days into their week in the sun but other tourists around him were worried about getting home.

He said: “A lot of people at this hotel are sitting with their suitcases waiting for them to open the airport.

“It’s concerning but I suppose it’s one of those things that can happen.”

Sally Lobo, 44, from Abergavenny, South Wales, who owns Mocubar restaurant in the resort, said: “All the roads are closed off now. A whole lot of people are stranded. The airport's closed, the port's closed. People can't go back to the port and their cruise ships are leaving.”

Helen Halstead, 30, from Manchester, was eating in a restaurant when she heard the explosion.

She said: “As soon as I heard the noise I ran around the corner and found there was quite a big fire in a car. There was debris around the car and in the road and smoke in the sky.

“There was a guy on the floor and they were trying to resuscitate him.

“Because it was outside the Civil Guard office, they were there straight away, cordoning off the road and moving people out of the way.”

Ms Halstead, who works in Majorca every summer as a member of an Abba tribute band, said a large crowd gathered in the street.

“People were saying ‘oh my God, there might be another one’,” she added.

“They’re not exactly panicked but they’re wondering what’s going on and what to do?”

Lisa Barratt, 43, who runs The Hideaway cafe bar in Santa Ponsa, about half a mile from where the bombers struck, said: “They’ve closed the main roads off, they’re not letting anybody in and they’re searching everybody’s vehicles.

“It’s just gone dead here, nobody’s got any customers, I think everybody’s gone to see what’s happened.”

Mrs Barratt, who has lived on Majorca for seven years, added: “If it was a bomb then it’s right in the middle of everything. There is the Guardia Civil, a medical centre and a post office in that area and there’s quite a few hotels.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said that so far there had been no reports of any British people being injured in the blast.

The Palma Nova beach resort area is south-west of the holiday island’s capital of Palma.

Security forces believe ETA, weakened by arrests of top leaders, is putting on a show of force to prove it is still able to strike.

The Civil Guard now have concerns for the security of the Spanish royal family as they are holidaying only a few miles away.

ETA has killed more than 825 people since it launched a campaign in 1968 for an independent homeland in Basque region of northern Spain