A white van ploughed into crowds
on Barcelona's famed Rambla street Thursday, killing "several"
people and injuring dozens more people, La Vanguardia reported.
La Vanguardia also cited police as saying it was a terrorist
attack.
The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, police
said.
The driver and another armed man were holed up in a store, La
Vanguardia said.
The Catalan government ordered the closure of the local metro
station, Plaza Catalunya, and shopkeepers were told to keep
their shops closed.
A young Italian woman, Chiara, told ANSA: "I was in a shop,
the other four people with me were behind the van which headed
for people in the pedestrian zone. The crowd was running".
After taking shelter in a shop, Chiara said "they're not
letting us out, we can hear the police out there but we can't
see anything from here. They're taking us to the bottom floor of
the shop".
Another Italian, Luca Terraciano, said "I saw at least three
or four people on the ground, a policeman holding a person and
everyone running, screaming, crying".
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