Las Ramblas, Barcelona is a tourist destination packed with visitors at this time of the year. It is one of the principal rendezvous of people to connect. The streets, packed with tourists and locals, saw terror when a white van rammed at pedestrians roaming the streets leaving 13 dead and injuring over a hundred. It is the worst deadly terrorist assault since the bombings of Madrid back in 2014 with casualties reaching to up to 191 people and wounding over 1,800.
Van accelerated at 50 mph zigzagging over people
Witnesses say that the terror van ran over people in a zigzagging fashion trying to bring down as many as it can.
Ali Shirzainia told CNN that he saw people flying as the van whizzed by him riding his bicycle. Another local said that the van was accelerating at about 80 kph (50 mph).
According to The Telegraph, the white van with blue markings was a rental van leased by a certain Driss Oukabir. The incident is the latest in a string of vehicles plowing over people in European cities, being the trend of low tech atrocities. The driver of the van is now at large.
Related operations with the Barcelona terror attack
At the press conference, the head of the Catalonia Police Department said the driver remains at large. Two other suspects are now in custody, one is from Morocco, and the other is a Spaniard from the territories of Melilla, reports to The Telegraph.
The ISIS media wing, Amaq, issued a statement claiming responsibility and that the perpetrators are the soldiers of the terrorist group. The terrorists did not mention any names or posted any image of the incident.
In Cambrils, five terrorists fought it out with Spanish authorities wearing suicide vests, leaving all of them killed.
A separate incident had a driver ran over two police officers at a checkpoint in Barcelona. The police caught up with the driver near the city. The police officers suffered minor injuries. Another Spaniard died and 16 others injured in an explosion in connection with the terror van attack in Las Ramblas.
Victims of the terror aftermath
Catalan Minister Joaquim Forn announced the casualty at 13 dead and at least 100 injured, 15 in critical condition. Local officials said that the figure may still rise. A Belgian national was one of the casualties as confirmed by the Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jose de Pierpont.
The leaders of the world aired their condemnation in the senseless Barcelona terrorist attack. Prime Minister Theresa May said that Great Britain stands firm together with Spain against terrorism.
President Donald Trump said that the United States condemns the attack and says the US will do anything to help. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted that the Eiffel Tower will put off its lights as a tribute to the victims of the Barcelona tragedy.
