Mass Hit On La Rambla In Barcelona

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A van has hit dozens of people this Thursday on La Rambla in Barcelona, one of the most popular walks in the Catalan capital and that at the time was crowded with passers-by, according to authorities.

The Catalan regional police reported in a tweet that "fatalities and injuries" had been registered in the mass hit, while images circulating on the networks of the scene of the events show numerous people lying on the ground and stained pavement. of blood.

Later, the authorities confirmed that 13 people of different nationalities had died in the attack, and another 80 had been wounded, 15 of them seriously.

The new mortal balance gives an idea of the horror that has been experienced around 5 pm local time, when a white van has climbed La Rambla, the emblematic pedestrian promenade of the Catalan capital, and has run over passers-by along a route of about 600 meters.

The vehicle would have gone up to the walk at the end that ends in Plaza Catalunya and stopped almost in front of the Liceo theater and near the popular La Boquería market, which the police forced to close.

"He has picked up a lot of speed and has gone down doing eses, running over everything he could," taxi driver Óscar Cano told Catalan television TV3. “When I ran over people, they would fly off and fall on the ground.

Another witness, who was in a Starbucks coffee shop, said he heard a huge crash followed by a flood of panicked people entering the premises. "There are wounded people, wounded children, it is horrible," he told Radio Barcelona. "It was very fast and terrifying."

According to the authorities, the driver of the white vehicle ended up leaving him and is still looking for him, without being able to capture him at the moment. Yes, two other people have been arrested - one born in the Spanish city of Melilla, in North Africa, and another of Moroccan origin - allegedly related to the attack.

Previous reports have also denied that one of the perpetrators was entrenched with hostages in a bar, one of several rumors that have emerged amid the chaos and uncertainty generated by the tragedy, the authorship of which has been attributed to the Islamic State (ISIS).

The police reported the location in the city of Vic, north of Barcelona, of a second vehicle that the same people responsible for the attack had rented. A third person has died in a town on the outskirts of the city after skipping a police checkpoint, but it is not clear that this event is linked to terrorism.

Today's horror has generated a wave of solidarity towards Barcelona from all corners of the world, both from stars, leaders and celebrities, and anonymous citizens.

The President of the Catalan Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, thanked for the signs of affection and stressed the need for the tragedy not to change the character of the city. "Barcelona is a city of dialogue and democracy, open to the world and proud of its cosmopolitanism," he assured. "We will not let a minority destroy a way of being that has been forged over the centuries."

This is at least the eighth attack in Europe committed with a vehicle that runs over its victims in the last year, after those that occurred in Nice, Berlin and London, among others.