An injured person is treated in Barcelona, Spain after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district. Photo / AP
An injured person is treated in Barcelona, Spain after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district. Photo / AP
By Helena Horton
At least 13 people were killed and 100 injured on Thursday when a driver deliberately slammed a van into crowds on Barcelona's most popular street in what police confirmed was a terror attack.
The attack, the latest in a wave of vehicle rammings across Europe in recent years, caused panic on the streets of Spain's largest city and drew condemnation from world leaders.
"It was clearly a terror attack, intended to kill as many people as possible," Josep Lluis Trapero, senior police official, said.
Anwar said: "I had been to the cathedral and walking down Las Ramblas for something to eat. Part of it was in the shade so I decided to keep walking down and literally within 10 seconds there was a crashing noise.
"I turned around and people were screaming - I could see a woman screaming with her kids - people started running and jumping into shops. I ran for about 50 or 100m and stopped to see what was happening. The police were very quickly on the scene and getting people to move back.
"I could see chaos right at the top area and I spoke to a shopkeeper who had run down and was screaming. He was Bengali so I spoke to him in Urdu and he said a van had driven into a crowd and he thought there were five to six people very seriously injured."
The suspects
The driver of the van that mowed into the packed street was still on the run, Spanish police said on Thursday night.
Josep Lluis Trapero of the regional police of Catalonia said two other people suspected of being involved in the terror attack had been arrested - a Spaniard and a Moroccan.
One of the suspects arrested over the attack is a man born in the Spanish territory of Melilla in northern Morocco, he said.
Video of police arresting a man was posted on social media.
Police released a photograph of a man called Maghrebi Driss Oukabir, who is suspected of renting the van which was used to crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas.
Spanish media have reported that a Driss Oukabir has gone to police in the town of Ripoll where he lives, to report that his documentation was stolen. It is suspected that his younger brother Moussa Oukabir, who lives in Barcelona, was involved in the attack.
In a further twist, Trapero said police suspected a deadly explosion late on Wednesday at a house in Alcanar 200km south of Barcelona was linked to the van attack.
Trapero said the explosion left at least one person dead, and police suspected those in the house were "preparing an explosive device."
"It seems there was an accumulation of gas that generated the explosion," he said, without giving further details.
Isil claim responsibility
"Soldiers" of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant carried out the deadly van attack, the jihadist organisation's propaganda outlet Amaq said.
"The executors of the Barcelona attack were soldiers of the Islamic State," Amaq said on its Telegram messenger account, without naming those it claimed were behind the attack.
Amaq said they had launched the attack in response to calls to target states taking part in the United States-led coalition battling the jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the attack was "jihadist terrorism" which required a global response.
"Today the fight against terrorism is the principal priority for free and open societies like ours. It is a global threat and the response has to be global," Rajoy told a news conference in Barcelona.
Isil, which once controlled a self-declared "caliphate" across large parts of Iraq and Syria, has suffered major losses in recent months. Coalition-backed Iraqi forces recaptured its Iraqi stronghold Mosul in July.
The dead and injured
Victims of the van rampage that left 13 people dead and around 100 others injured were of at least 18 different nationalities, Spain's civil protection agency said.
A spokesman said that among the victims in the popular seaside city were nationals from France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina, Venezuela, Belgium, Australia, Hungary, Peru, Romania, Ireland, Greece, Cuba, Macedonia, China, Italy and Algeria - without detailing whether he was referring to those who died or were injured.
Authorities said a Belgian was among the dead and an Australian woman was seriously injured.
Witnesses spoke of a scene of carnage, with bodies strewn along the boulevard as others fleeing for their lives.
"When it happened I ran out and saw the damage," local shop worker Xavi Perez told AFP.
"There were bodies on the floor with people crowding round them. People were crying. There were lots of foreigners."
Image 1 of 12: Police officers stand next to the van involved on an attack in Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain. Photo / AP
In Germany, the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they were thinking of the victims of the "revolting attack" with "profound sadness", while French President Emmanuel Macron voiced "France's solidarity" with Spanish citizens following what he called "a tragic attack".
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the world to unite in an "uncompromising battle against the forces of terror".
"We decisively condemn this cruel and cynical crime against civilians," Putin wrote in a telegram of condolences to Spanish King Felipe VI.
US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!"
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered assistance to authorities in Spain and said US diplomats in Spain were helping Americans there. He vowed the United States would never relent in tracking down terror suspects and holding them to account.
"Terrorists around the world should know that the United States and our allies are resolved to find you and bring you to justice," Tillerson said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK "stands with Spain against terror" while France's president and the mayors of Paris and Nice are among the French dignitaries offering support for Barcelona after a deadly van attack.
