Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 world news
Friday 18 august 2017

At Press Time:

Attacker drives van into Barcelona crowd; 13 dead, 100 hurt

By BARRY HATTON pero said neither of them were bombings claimed suddenly jumped the curb ated full speed down the
JOSEPH WILSON was the driver of the van. by the Basque separatist and sped down the central Ramblas and I realized it
Associated Press The arrests took place in group ETA that killed five pedestrian area at a high was a terrorist attack. He
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) the northern Catalan town people over the past de- speed for about 500 yards zigzagged from side to side
— A van veered onto a of Ripoll and in Alcanar, cade. Hours after Thurs- (meters), veering from side into the kiosks, pinning as
sidewalk and sped down a many people as he could,
busy pedestrian zone Thurs- so they had no escape,”
day in Barcelona’s pictur- Laparra said.
esque Las Ramblas district, Carol Augustin, a manager
swerving from side to side at La Palau Moja, an 18th-
as it mowed down tourists century former palace
and residents and turned on Las Ramblas that now
the popular European va- houses offices and a tour-
cation spot into a bloody ism center, said the van
killing zone. Thirteen people passed right in front of the
were killed and 100 were in- building.
jured, 15 of them seriously, “People started screaming
in what authorities called a and running into the office.
terror attack. It was such a chaotic situ-
Victims were left sprawled ation. There were families
in the street, spattered with with children. The police
blood or crippled by bro- made us close the doors
ken limbs. Others fled in and wait inside,” she said.
panic, screaming or carry- Tamara Jurgen, a visitor
ing young children in their from the Netherlands who
arms. “It was clearly a terror had arrived in Barcelona
attack, intended to kill as just hours before the at-
many people as possible,” tack, said she and a friend
Josep Lluis Trapero, senior were inside a clothing store
police official, told a news Police officers tell members of the public to leave the scene in a street in Barcelona, Spain, Thurs- steps from the scene. They
day, Aug. 17, 2017. A white van jumped up onto a sidewalk and sped down a pedestrian zone
conference late Thursday. Thursday in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district, swerving from side to side as it plowed into were held inside until police
The Islamic State group tourists and residents. At press time, police said 13 people were killed and more than 100 wound- swept the block.
claimed responsibility, say- ed in what they called a terror attack. “We were downstairs when
ing in a statement on its (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) it happened and every-
Aamaq news agency that one was screaming and
the attack was carried out the site of a gas explosion day’s attack, the police to side as it targeted peo- running. We had to run up
by “soldiers of the Islamic at a house on Wednesday force for Spain’s Catalonia ple. “I heard a lot of peo- to the roof and throw our
State” in response to the night. Police said they were region said that troopers ple screaming and then I bags over a wall,” Jurgen
extremist group’s calls for investigating a possible link searching for the perpetra- saw the van going down said. “We were all togeth-
followers to target coun- to Thursday’s attack. tors shot and killed a man the boulevard,” another er along this wall and we
tries participating in the co- Barcelona is the latest Euro- who was in a car that hit witness, Miguel Angel Rizo, were scared we were go-
alition trying to drive it from pean city to experience a two officers at a traffic told The Associated Press. ing to have to jump.”
Syria and Iraq. terror attack using vehicle blockade on the outskirts of “You could see all the bod- Authorities said a Belgian
After the afternoon attack, as a weapon to target a Barcelona. However, Trap- ies lying through Las Ram- was among the dead
Las Ramblas went into popular tourist destina- ero said it was not linked to blas. It was brutal. A very and a Greek woman was
lockdown. Swarms of po- tion, after similar attacks in the van attack. tough image to see.” among the injured at the
lice brandishing hand guns France and Britain. Las Ramblas is a wide av- Jordi Laparra, a 55-year- popular tourist spot.
and automatic weapons Thursday’s bloodshed was enue of stalls and shops old physical education Barcelona Mayor Ada Co-
launched a manhunt in the the country’s deadliest at- that cuts through the cen- teacher and Barcelona lau announced a minute
downtown district, ordering tack since 2004, when al- ter of Barcelona and is resident, said it initially ap- of silence to be held Friday
stores and cafes and pub- Qaida-inspired bombers one of the city’s top tourist peared to be a terrible traf- in the city’s main square
lic transport to shut down. killed 192 people in coordi- destinations. It features a fic accident. “to show that we are not
Several hours later they re- nated assaults on Madrid’s pedestrian-only walkway in “At first I thought it was scared.” The regional gov-
ported two arrests, one a commuter trains. In the the center while cars can an accident, as the van ernment announced three
Spanish national from Me- years since, Spanish au- travel on either side. crashed into 10 people days of mourning.
lilla, a Spanish-run enclave thorities have reported ar- A taxi driver who witnessed or so and seemed to get Leaders around the world
in North Africa, and the resting nearly 200 jihadists, Thursday’s attack, Oscar stuck. But then he maneu- offered their support to Bar-
other a Moroccan, but Tra- but the only deadly attacks Cano, said the white van vered left and acceler- celona after the attack.q