Van Crashed Into Pedestrians in Barcelona Terror Attack

Photocredit: 10tv.com

A white van plowed into a packed summer crowd Thursday evening in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district. Barcelona police called it a terror attack and local media reported 13 dead and dozens more injured. Other media said at least two have died. The street is one of the most well-known and popular parts of the city, visited by tourists and locals alike.

“Huge collision on Las Ramblas in Barcelona by an individual driving a van, many injuries,” a statement from the police said. There are also reports of a live hostage incident at a Turkish restaurant near the scene. The area around the incident was cordoned off, with several ambulances and police vehicles on the scene, an AFP correspondent said. The famous Las Ramblas boulevard is one of Barcelona’s busiest streets, normally thronged with tourists and street performers until well into the night. Vehicles have been used as weapons in several terror attacks in Europe in recent years killing well over 100 people in Nice, Berlin, London and Stockholm.

Carol Augustin, a manager at La Palau Moja, an 18th-century place on Las Ramblas that houses government offices and a tourism information center, said the van passed right in front of the building.

“We saw everything. People started screaming and running into the office. It was such a chaotic situation. There were families with children. The police made us close the doors and wait inside,” she said.

In photographs and videos, at least five people could be seen lying on the ground in the streets of the northern Spanish city Thursday afternoon, being helped by police and others. Other video recorded people screaming as they fled the van. Many victims can be seen bleeding, some heavily, while being tended to by passersby. Souvenirs are strewn across the path, having apparently been knocked over in the chaos.