Terror attack in Barcelona kills 13; 50 hurt
BARCELONA, August 17, 2017
At least 13 people died and 50 were injured after a van ploughed into crowds in Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas tourist area, Spanish police and local officials said.
The vehicle sped along the pedestrian area, mowing down people and sending others fleeing for cover. Police are treating the incident as terrorism, said a BBC report.
A man had been arrested in connection with the attack, reports said.
Witnesses said the van had deliberately targeted people before stopping.
Spanish media reports said the driver of the vehicle - a white Fiat that had been rented in the city - had fled on foot. But police denied earlier reports of two suspected attackers being holed up in a bar in the city centre.
A government official in the region of Catalonia, which includes Barcelona, said on Twitter that at least 50 people were injured.
Eyewitness Tom Gueller told the BBC: "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.
"It wasn't slowing down at all. It was just going straight through the middle of the crowds," he added.
Mobile phone footage showed several bodies strewn along the Ramblas, some motionless. Paramedics and bystanders bent over them, treating them and trying to comfort those still conscious.
