Barcelona Condole With Victims Of Terror Attack

Initial reports suggested one of the suspects may have been hiding in a bar just off the popular tourist strip but police recently dismissed those reports.

The casualty numbers have steadily grown as more news became available.

One of the vans used to carry out the murderous rampage at the heart of the city was rented by a man called Driss Oukabir, Spanish police said.

“A load of people screaming just ran into the museum I’m just after walking into and they’ve shut the whole place down”, he said.

Witnesses said the van had deliberately targeted people before stopping.

Fellow Barcelona side Espanyol also registered their disbelief at events, writing “The most lovely city in the world, we suffer for you and all Barcelona residents”.

Barak Ben Gal, an Israeli tour guide in Barcelona, witnessed the attack. In the tragic incident, as many as 13 people have lost their lives, local media reports say, while CNN says over 50 people have received serious injuries. The area has been evacuated.

Eemergency response teams flooded the area to treat the injured.

A photograph released by the public broadcaster RTVE showed three people lying on the ground in the street, apparently being helped by police and others.

Meanwhile, student Marc Esparcia (20) told the BBC: “There was a loud noise and everybody ran for cover”.

Islamic State supporters celebrated the Barcelona attack on Thursday and promoted previous threats made against Spain, but the group did not immediately issue a claim of responsibility, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity.

“I think several people were hit”. It was terrible. There was panic. Esparcia said he was taking cover inside a Starbucks. “Thoughts addressed to people affected”, he tweeted.

Police did not comment on the hostage situation, but only sent out another tweet saying: “If you are in the #Ramblas avoid transiting the area, remains in safe area and facilitates the work of the police. not spread images!”.

The attack bears similarities to attacks in London at Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, which both involved vehicles driving into pedestrians. It’s unclear whether the incident at the restaurant is related to the crash of the white van, but some media outlets are reporting that the gunmen may have been in the van when it plowed through the crowd. Based on the van’s zig-zag pattern, it’s believed that the driver wanted to cause as much damage as possible and injure or kill as many people as they could.

The police force announced the arrest on Twitter Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the Turkish foreign ministry condemned the “heinous” attack “in the strongest terms” and offered Turkey’s support for “its friend and ally” Spain. Within a couple of minutes, police started to arrive and they were running west of the restaurant and some were telling us to stay inside.

At least 13 people have died in Barcelona, Spain, after a van plowed into a group of pedestrians.

The most deadly was the driver of a tractor-trailer who targeted Bastille Day revelers in the southern French city of Nice in July 2016, killing 86 people.

The white van that veered into the pedestrians came to stop with its front scratched and crumpled. One was killed, 10 were injured.

“Police were very, very quickly there, police officers with guns, batons, everywhere”.

On Aug. 9 in in Levallois-Perret, a suburb of Paris, a vehicle rammed a group of soldiers injuring six.