13 dead, many injured as van rams into crowd in Barcelona; one suspect held

A number of people were injured when a van rammed into a crowd of pedestrians on Barcelona's iconic Las Ramblas on Thursday.

Photo: Reuters

Catalonia: At least 13 people are reported to have been killed after a van ploughed into crowds in Barcelona's Las Ramblas avenue in the city centre on Thursday. 

Other media including El Pais said there were at least 10 dead; however, police spokeswoman could not immediately confirm the number of casualties. 

One suspect has been arrested and is in police custody, local media reported. 

The Barcelona police have declared the Las Ramblas incident as a 'terrorist attack', reported AFP. 

Media reports said the van had zigzagged at speed down the famous Las Ramblas avenue, a magnet for tourists. Over 50 people are said to have been injured in the crash, El Periodico newspaper said citing police sources.

The newspaper further reported that after the van mowed down dozens of people, two armed men entrenched themselves in a bar in Barcelona's city centre. It was not immediately clear that the men were the drivers of the van. 

The Catalan emergency services asked the people to not go to the area around Placa Catalunya and requested that metro and train stations be closed in the area close to the Las Ramblas avenue in the city centre.

The area around the incident has been cordoned off, with several ambulances and police vehicles on the scene, an AFP correspondent said. 

One person suspected of driving a van into pedestrians on one of the busiest streets of Barcelona on Thursday was holed up in a bar, a Spanish police source said.

"One of the attackers is holed up in a bar," said the source, who declined to be named, adding that police were looking for a total of two suspects over the attack which has left at least two people dead. However, Reuters reports that it is still not clear if the two armed men who have entrenched themselves in a bar were the drivers of the van.

Also, some local media reported that there may be a hostage situation where the attackers are holed up.

"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," eyewitness Tom Gueller told the BBC.

"It wasn`t slowing down at all. It was just going straight through the middle of the crowds in the middle of the Ramblas."

Mobile phone footage posted on Twitter showed several bodies strewn along the Ramblas, some motionless. Paramedics and bystanders bent over them, treating them and trying to comfort those still conscious.

Around them, the boulevard was deserted, covered in rubbish and abandoned objects including hats, flip-flops, bags and a pram. 

"We saw a white van collide with people. We saw people going flying because of the collision, we also saw three cyclists go flying," Ellen Vercamm, on holiday in Barcelona, told El Pais newspaper.

The famous Las Ramblas boulevard is one of Barcelona`s busiest streets, normally thronged with tourists and street performers until well into the night. 

It was not immediately clear if the van had been deliberately driven into people, but vehicles have been used as weapons in several terror attacks in Europe in recent years.