Search for victims
STROLLING through the heart of Barcelona with his mother in the late afternoon sun, Julian Cadman was undoubtedly enjoying the adventure.
The seven-year-old, born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, had flown to Spain from Sydney with his mother, Jumarie Cadman, known as Jom, for her niece’s wedding. But their excitement was shattered when the white van careered down Las Ramblas, crashing into scores of pedestrians.
Mrs Cadman would later be found critically injured and in an induced coma in hospital, while Julian, a “sweet and loving” boy who loved to dance, remained missing last night, feared to be among the 13 killed.
Five victims were identified yesterday: two Italians, a Belgian mother and two Spaniards aged 60 and 75.
As appeals for the missing began trickling through, Julian’s father, Andrew Cadman, 42, arrived for work in Sydney at 6am local time and turned on the radio, unaware of the horror that was about to unfold.
The cabinet maker listened to the breaking news of a terrorist attack and immediately tried to call his wife.
Unable to get through, he took the first available flight to Barcelona. His boss, Scott Bowman, said last night that Mr Cadman was a “bloody mess”.
“I can’t comprehend what he is going through,” he said. “It is just the three of them, they are close.”
Mr Bowman told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph: “He turned up for work this morning and heard about the attack. He said ‘I better ring my wife’. He couldn’t get her. He started to get some sort of news … they had found his wife in hospital at 8.30 this morning, but they don’t know where Julian is … we still don’t know.”
He said Mrs Cadman, who is from the Philippines, had multiple fractures “everywhere” with severe injuries to her arms, legs and face, suspected spinal injuries and internal damage.
It is unclear if medics at the Vall d’hebron Hospital have been able to inform her that her son is missing.
Julian’s family, both in Australia and the UK, made urgent appeals for information, releasing his photograph and imploring people to look out for him.
The young boy had lived in the UK for four years, attending Chiddingstone Nursery, set in a castle in the countryside, before the family of three moved to Australia three years ago.
They return to the UK once a year to visit Mrs Cadman’s older sister, Judith, whose daughter Justine’s wedding the pair were attending in Barcelona. Julian’s paternal grandfather, Tony Cadman, originally from Gillingham, had emigrated to Sydney decades earlier. Norma Canaveral, a close family friend known to Julian as “granny”, said: “We are so worried. I am just waiting for news, hoping for good news.”
The 66-year-old, from east London, added: “I don’t know what to say. All we can do is wait.” Mrs Canaveral’s daughter, Norie Brown, added: “Julian’s a really sweet boy. He loves to dance, he’s a lovely, bubbly boy.”
More than 100 people were killed or injured in Thursday’s atrocity, from 34 countries including China, Colombia, France, Germany, Honduras and Morocco, a testament to the global allure of the Spanish city.
Luca Rosso’s fiancée, Lucia, said they had been walking together when the van came right up behind them. The 25-year-old Italian’s body was “swept away” by the vehicle, she said.
Italian Bruno Gulotta, 35, was on holiday with his wife Martina and two children when he was crushed as he walked hand in hand with his fiveyear-old son. He is said to have died as he knelt down to shield the little boy.
Mrs Gulotta was walking behind the pair carrying their seven-month-old daughter, according to reports, and managed to pull their son to safety just in the nick of time.
Elke Vanbockrijck, 44, a Belgian bank worker, was on holiday with her husband and two sons, 11 and 14, when she was killed.
The youngest victim is thought to be a three-year-old girl who died shortly after being taken to hospital.
Others killed include three Germans, an American and a Portuguese 74-year-old.
A 61-year-old Spanish woman was killed when terrorists ploughed an Audi A3 into crowds on the seafront in Cambrils. Last night the family of US construction worker Jared Tucker, 42, who had been celebrating his first wed- ding anniversary, said he had died in the van attack.