13 dead, 100 injured, as van brings terror to Barcelona
●Harrowing footage shows bodies lying on pavement in Las Ramblas ●Two suspects arrested while a third man is shot by Spanish police
At least 13 people are dead and more than 100 injured after a van was driven into pedestrians on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas.
Police last night made two arrests and said the incident was being treated as a terrorist attack amid reports another attacker had been shot dead.
Eyewitnesses spoke of “unbridled fear” after the Fiat van crashed into crowds and swerved from side to side on the thoroughfare which is popular with tourists yesterday afternoon.
There was panic in the hours that followed amid reports gunmen were holed up in a bar in the city centre and had taken hostages. However, the reports were later dismissed by police who released a photograph of Moroccan-born Driss Oukabir, who is alleged to have hired the van used in the attack. It is unclear whether he is one of those arrested.
The group calling itself Islamic State has claimed responsibilty for the attack.
Catalonia’s police force, the Mossos d’esquadra, said a man in a car which hit two of its officers at a traffic blockade in Barcelona had been shot and killed.
According to local media, a white Ford Focus ran over the officers and
was then intercepted by police around two miles away.
It was not immediately apparent whether the incident was connected to the earlier attack, although bomb squad officers were last night searching the area.
The identities of those killed in Las Ramblas were not immediately known, although a Belgian national is among the dead.
Witnesses described seeing the vehicle speed through crowds on Las Ramblas without slowing down.
Tourists were forced to take shelter in nearby shops, while others reported hearing gunshots.
Tom Gueller, who lives on a road adjoining the site of the attack, was forced to flee when the vehicle began hitting pedestrians.
He said: “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.”
Video captured by eyewitnesses and circulating on social media showed the bloody aftermath of the incident. A number of victims, some bleeding heavily, were visible in one clip – lying amid piles of souvenirs apparently sent flying in the chaos.
Susan Maclean, who is on holiday in Barcelona with her husband, said she was “very lucky” to have avoided the van as it ploughed through the crowds.
She said: “All of a sudden, there was this screaming and hordes of people, like a tidal wave of people, fear etched in their faces, running towards us, many of them yelling in Spanish.
“We had no idea what was going on. My first thought was this is a terrorist attack.”
She said she felt “unbridled fear” during the incident where she was barricaded into a nearby shop for safety.
Ms Maclean said: “It was very difficult to know what was going on.
“People were shouting. We could hear the word ‘shooting, shooting’. We weren’t really sure whether that was shooting as in the English or a Spanish word so it was just unbridled fear.”
Police immediately cordoned off Las Ramblas and ordered stores and nearby Metro and train stations to close following the attack.
They asked people to stay away from the area so as not to get in the way of emergency services. A helicopter hovered over the scene.
Meanwhile, local authorities in the small town of Vic in Catalonia said police had cordoned off the area and were inspecting another van which is thought to have been a getaway vehicle.
The attack – the first major terror-related killing on Spanish soil since more than 190 people died in the madrid train bombings in 2004 – brought widespread condemnation.
Barcelona’s mayor, Ada Colau, tweeted in English that her city would remain “brave and united”.
She added: “Terror will never change that.”
She said a minute’s silence would be held today in Barcelona’s main square to show the city was not afraid.
In a statement, FC Barcelona, the city’s famous football club, said: “Deeply saddened by the attack on our city. All our thoughts are with the victims, their families and with the people of Barcelona.”
Spain’s royal palace also condemned the attack, calling the perpetrators “assassins, simply criminals who will not terrorise us”.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the “UK stands with Spain against terror” and President Donald Trump said the United States “will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her thoughts were with all those affected by the “horrific and mindless attack”.
French president em manuel Macron tweeted: “All my thoughts and solidarity from France for the victims of the tragic attack in Barcelona. We will remain united and determined.”
Spain has been on a security alert one step below the maximum since June 2015 following attacks elsewhere in Europe and Africa. Spanish police have also been involved in the arrests of more than 200 suspected jihadis since then.
Cars, trucks and vans have been the weapon of choice in multiple extremist attacks in Europe in the last year.
The most deadly was the driver of a lorry who targeted Bastille Day revellers in the southern French city of Nice in July 2016, killing 86 people. In December, 12 people died after a driver used a hijacked truck to drive into a market in Berlin.
“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” TOM GUELLER