British witnesses in Barcelona describe how terrorist zigzagged down Las Ramblas strip ploughing through crowds before fleeing on foot
BRIT witnesses of the Barcelona terror attack have described how a terrorist zigzagged down Las Ramblas before ploughing into crowds and fleeing on foot.
Thirteen people were killed and 100 injured after the van ploughed into people crossing the road yesterday evening.
Susan Maclean, who is on holiday in Barcelona with her husband, said she was "very lucky" to have avoided the van as it ploughed through the crowds.
She told Channel 4 News: "All of a sudden, there was this screaming and hordes of people, like a tidal wave of people, fear etched in their faces, running towards us, many of them yelling in Spanish.
"We had no idea what was going on. My first thought was this is a terrorist attack."
She said she felt "unbridled fear" during the incident where she was barricaded into a nearby shop for safety.
Ms Maclean said: "It was very difficult to know what was going on.
"People were shouting. We could hear the word 'shooting, shooting'. We weren't really sure whether that was shooting as in the English or a Spanish word so it was just unbridled fear."
- WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
- At 5pm on Thursday, a white Fiat van ploughed into a crowd in tourist hotpot Las Ramblas in Barcelona
- At least 14 people were killed and 100 more injured as the driver mowed down innocents along a 500m stretch of the packed pedestrian area
- The driver then fled the carnage on foot and is still believed to be on the run
- Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the van attack was a result of 'jihadist terrorism' and ISIS has since claimed responsibility
- At least three men have been arrested in connection with the attack including Driss Oukabir - a 28-year-old Moroccan who is believed to have rented the van.His brother Moussa Oukabir, 18, stole his ID.
- Victims are from 24 countries, with one Belgian national confirmed to have died. Twenty-six of the injured are French, three are Italian and a seven-year-old Australian boy is feared to be among the victims
- Eight hours later, seven people were injured and five terrorists killed in a second terror attack in Cambrils - 68 miles from Barcelona
- Jihadists wearing fake suicide vests rammed an Audi A3 into pedestrians and were gunned down by police when the car flipped
- Officials are linking the attacks with an explosion that killed one person at a house 124 miles away from Las Ramblas on Wednesday
A unidentified witness told Spanish TV station TV3: "A van attacked people, it came out flying. It is a hell of blood."
Deborah, a witness to the outrage who was locked inside her shop close to the scene, added: "I see the police and ambulances pass by.
"I am barricaded inside. A lot of people have come to hide in the store. We have a family with little girls in here."
Diego, another witness said: "A lot of screams have been heard and I went out to the balcony.
"There are a lot of people lying on the ground, a lot of blood. Some of them looked like they were dead."
Amar Anwar, a human rights lawyer, told Sky News: "I did not see the van mount the pavement.
"I heard the crash. People started screaming and everybody ran in the opposite direction.
"The shopkeeper we spoke to said a van had mounted the pavement and driven into a crowd and at least five or six people, he thought, were very seriously injured.
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Marc Esparcia, a 20-year-old student who lives in Barcelona, told the BBC: "There was a loud noise and everybody ran for cover.
"There were a lot people, lots of families [at the site], this is one of the most visited sites in Barcelona.
"I think several people were hit. It was horrible, there was panic. Terrible."
Ethan Spibey, who works for charity Freedom to Donate, told Sky: "I was just walking towards Las Ramblas with my boyfriend and there seemed to be some police there already.
"All of a sudden there was just real kind of chaos. People just started running and screaming.
"There was loud bangs and people just started running into shops. There was a mini stampede where we were down one of the alleyways.
"So we've just now been locked into a church.
"They've locked the doors because I'm not sure whether the person who's done it has been taught, so they've locked the doors and told people to wait in here.
"There's probably about four or five dozen people locked in this church just waiting."
Police have arrested three people in connection with the attack. It is not known if any were the driver of the van.
Las Ramblas reopened this morning after the city was placed on lockdown yesterday.
Metro lines were shut and shoppers and pedestrians were seen running into buildings as armed police flooded the area.
Police confirmed the "massive crash" involved a white van mounting the pavement.
Barcelona is a popular summer destinations for British tourists.
It is the latest European city to experience a terror attack using vehicle as a weapon to target a popular tourist destination, after similar attacks in France and Britain.
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