A STUDENT at Southamp+ton University was hurt in one of two bomb attacks on the Costa Blanca in Spain.

Modern languages student Ellie Carr, 20, was taken to Hospital General Universitario in Alicante after a blast near a hotel.

She needed 20 stitches after suffering head, arm and side injuries.

From her hospital bed, she said yesterday: "There was this massive explosion and the whole building fell in around us. Before I knew it, I was covered in blood. I couldn't get down the stairs. I couldn't feel my head, but eventually I found a fire exit and ran outside. It felt like the bomb was in the room. Two other students were also hurt and are in hospital.''

Ms Carr, from St Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was on her second day of a Spanish language course at a school near the Hotel Residencia Bahia in the town.

Dr Clare Mar-Molinero, head of the school of modern languages at the university, said: "We are extremely concerned to hear that Ellie has been injured and greatly relieved that reports indicate her injuries to be relatively minor."

Kim Grassick, who works at the Daily Echo, was especially shocked as her son, Michael, is on holiday in the resort and staying in a hotel just 100 yards from where the bomb exploded.

The 18-year-old, from Quantock Road, Millbrook, is spending a week in the country with his friend Chris Wright, 19, also from Quantock Road, and the pair are not due home until Saturday.

Kim said: "When he phoned me to say he was okay I was so relieved, but I'm still a bit shaky. He's out there until Saturday and in two minds whether to come home or not."

A second bomb went off in Benidorm and destroyed a hotel.

The attacks, which injured nine people, were blamed on Basque terror group Eta.