Van plows into crowd in Spain
At least 13 killed in terrorist attack on busy Barcelona tourist destination
Spain was hit by its worst terrorist attack in more than a decade Thursday, when a van driver plowed into dozens of people enjoying a sunny afternoon on one of Barcelona’s most famous thoroughfares, killing at least 13 people and leaving 80 bloodied on the pavement.
Hours later, the Catalan police said they foiled a second van attack, in the seaside town of Cambrils 70 miles to the south, fatally shooting at least four people who appeared to be wearing explosive belts, according to Spanish news reports. A fifth died later of wounds, the police said.
The Barcelona attack was at least the sixth time in the past few years that assailants using vehicles as deadly weapons have struck a European city.
The police cordoned off the Plaza de Cataluña and Las Ramblas, both tourist destinations, and began a chaotic pursuit for the attackers.
Two people were later arrested, including a Moroccan man whose identification documents had been used to rent the van. But the Barcelona police
said neither was believed to be the driver, who escaped on foot remained at large on Thursday night.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Barcelona assault, which shattered a peaceful afternoon in one of Europe’s most picturesque cities. President Donald Trump and other Western leaders quickly condemned the attack and pledged cooperation.
Screams and chaos
In a sign of the confusion that prevailed after the Barcelona attack, local television reported one assailant, armed with a rifle, had run into a restaurant and was besieged by the police. The police said the entire incident was false.
Witnesses described people screaming and running for their lives as the van driver wove back and forth just after 5:30 p.m., apparently trying to hit as many people as he could. Police officers swept through the area near Las Ramblas, a wide boulevard with a large pedestrian section, moving people out of the area.
Videos taken by witnesses posted online showed men, women and children lying motionless on the ground amid broken umbrellas and chairs, in the shade of trees, many bleeding profusely, while paramedics and friends knelt to comfort them as police sirens wailed.
Other witnesses described chaos as people dropped their belongings and fled as the van entered the mall and accelerated, hitting people indiscriminately, among them children, women and the elderly. Among the seriously injured was a 6-yearold girl hospitalized with a cerebral hemorrhage, an official at Vall Hebron university hospital said.
People streamed onto side streets, many of them weeping. “It was horrific,” said Sergi Alcazar, a 25-year-old photographer who arrived 10 minutes after the attack to find victims lying amid broken umbrellas, chairs and cafe tables.
Until Thursday, Spain had been spared from the recent wave of terrorist attacks in Europe — many involving vehicles plowing into crowds — claimed by extremists in France, Germany, Britain and elsewhere.
Two arrested
Maj. Josep Lluis Trapero, a senior police official in Spain’s Catalonia region, said at a news conference that the police were investigating a possible connection between the van attack and a gas explosion the previous night in Alcanar, a town south of the city, which killed one person and injured several others.
One person, a Spaniard from the Spanish territory of Melilla in Morocco, had been taken into custody in Alcanar, he said. A second man, identified as Driss Oukabar, a Morrocan citizen, was arrested in the northern Catalan town of Ripoll when he walked into a police station and reported his documents had been stolen.
Trapero said neither man appeared to be the driver of the van, which came to a stop near the city’s opera house. The driver escaped on foot, he said. “It was clearly a terror attack, intended to kill as many people as possible,” Trapero said.
A national police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss on ongoing investigation, said at least three vans had been rented under Oukabar’s name.
As night fell, the Barcelona police were frantically searching for the two other vans, combing the streets and underground parking garages, the official said.
Trump said on Twitter that the United States would “do whatever is necessary to help, telling Spaniards to “Be tough & strong, we love you!”
‘Deeply shaken’
Pro-Islamic State accounts on the Telegram messaging service shared news of the attack. One channel, called “Expansion of the Caliphate,” posted video of the scene of the violence alongside a message in Arabic. “Terror is filling the hearts of the Crusader in the Land of Andalusia,” it said.
The attack appeared to follow the playbook of recent assaults in which attackers drove vehicles into crowded stretches of large European cities.
“While it’s not clear whether the attackers corresponded with ISIS prior to the operation, it’s clear that the methods used in the attack is something ISIS encouraged and incited over and again,” said Laith Alkhouri, a director in New York of the business-risk intelligence company Flashpoint, which tracks militant threats and cyberthreats.
The leaders of European countries and cities that have suffered attacks quickly expressed their support and solidarity with Barcelona.
In Germany, which has been on alert for potential terrorist threats ahead of the general election on Sept. 24, members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet expressed their solidarity with the Spanish people, following the news from Barcelona.
“I am deeply shaken by the terrible news from Barcelona,” said Thomas de Maizière, the country’s interior minister. “Once again, terror has shown its grotesque face.”
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said on Twitter that Barcelona and Paris “are cities of sharing, love and tolerance. Such values are stronger than this despicable and cowardly terrorism.” Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said his city “stands with Barcelona against the evil of terrorism.”