NI newlyweds in terror stampede
At least 13 dead and 100 hurt in IS atrocity
A NEWLYWED couple from Northern Ireland were caught up in the terror as a van ploughed through crowds in Barcelona in an Islamic State attack that left at least 13 dead.
Martin (53) and Sharon Kane (48) from west Belfast were enjoying a dream honeymoon when the vehicle careered into terrified pedestrians on Las Ramblas, a tourist hotspot.
“People were screaming and crying. It was a stampede. Then the sirens began,” Martin said.
“We were all panicking. My wife was crying her eyes out.”
AT least 13 people have been killed and more than 100 injured after a van ploughed into pedestrians in a terror attack in a busy tourist area of Barcelona.
Spanish police arrested two people after a white Fiat van tore through the Las Ramblas district, which was packed with shoppers and holidaymakers.
The vehicle careered into terrified pedestrians in the busy tree-lined promenade, one of the most popular parts of the city.
Senior police official Josep Lluis Trapero said the van drove on to the pavement, swerving among pedestrians in a crowded area, and was “clearly a terror attack intended to kill as many people as possible”.
He said the van driver made off on foot and was not believed to be armed.
Prime Minister Theresa May said she was “sickened” by the attack which left a Belgian man among the dead, while the Foreign Office is trying to determine if there are British victims.
Mrs May added: “Following the attacks in Manchester and London, Spain stood alongside the British people.
“Tonight, Britain stands with Spain against the evil of terrorism.”
DUP leader Arlene Foster tweeted: “My thoughts are with the victims in Barcelona and those standing up for law and order. Horrific scenes. Barbaric act.”
Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill also tweeted: “Solidarity to the people of Barcelona, thoughts are with the victims and families.”
Regional interior minister Joaquim Form last night warned the death toll may rise. The two suspects in custody are a Spanish national from Melilla and a Moroccan, but neither were the van driver, Catalan authorities said.
Officials are also linking the van attack to an explosion in Catalonia the previous day in which one person was killed and seven injured.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the terror attack, the deadliest on Spanish soil since more than 190 people died in the Madrid train bombs in 2004. The claim was made by the extremist group’s news agen- cy Amaq. In another incident, police said a driver had run over two officers in a town north of Barcelona, but it was not clear if the incident was related to the van attack.
Local media reports said a white Ford Focus ran over the officers and that a person from the car was shot and killed by officers.
Following the van attack, police had reportedly been searching for a man named Driss Oukabir after the passport of a Spanish citizen of Moroccan origin was found at the scene.
Reports suggested he had rented the Mercedes van involved in the attack in a town a few miles north of Barcelona.
But El Pais newspaper said Oukabir had gone to a police station, denied being involved in the attack, and told police that his documents had been stolen.
There were also reports that detectives believe two vans were used, one for the attack and a second as a getaway vehicle.
Catalonian police said 15 people were seriously injured in the atrocity.
Witnesses to the terror attack in Barcelona described how the van hurtled through crowds without slowing down. Scores were sent scattering in panic as carnage unfolded on Las Ramblas, a bustling high street often thronged with tourists.
Many were forced to take shelter in nearby shops, while others reported hearing gunshots being fired.
Lawyer and University of Glasgow rector Aamer Anwar described the aftermath of the attack in Las Ramblas.
He said: “I could see a woman screaming with her kids. People started running and jumping into shops.”
Tom Gueller, who lives on a road adjoining the site of the attack, was forced to flee when the vehicle began hitting pedestrians. He told BBC’s PM: “I heard screams and a bit of a crash and then I just saw the crowd parting and this van going full pelt down the middle of the Ramblas, and I immediately knew that it was a terrorist attack or something like that.
“I ran away, I mean I live near, I had to run back about 50 metres or so and go up to my flat and obviously see what’s happening on the road from my balcony.”
Asked about the van, he said: “It wasn’t slowing down at all.
“It was just going straight through the middle of the crowds in the middle of the Ramblas.”
Catalonia’s regional president Carles Puigdemont has declared three days of mourning.