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Van Hits Pedestrians in Barcelona, Injuring Several Van Hits Pedestrians in Barcelona; Deaths Confirmed
(35 minutes later)
Several people were injured on Thursday when a van crashed into a crowd near Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain, the police said. The police said that there were deaths and several people injured on Thursday when a van jumped a curb and crashed into a crowd near Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain. They added that they were looking for at least one suspect.
It was not immediately clear whether the episode was related to terrorism — or if the crash was even intentional — but Islamist militants have staged several attacks recently in which they used vehicles to plow into crowds. It was not immediately clear whether the episode was related to terrorism, but Islamist militants have staged several attacks recently in which they used vehicles to plow into crowds.
The police were requesting that people not pass through the area near Plaza de Cataluña and Las Ramblas in the heart of the city, popular destinations for tourists. The police, who did not specify how many people died or were wounded, were requesting that people not pass through the area near Plaza de Cataluña and Las Ramblas in the heart of the city, popular destinations for tourists.
The Catalan emergency services said that they had asked the authorities to close metro and train stations in the area. The Barcelona police said they had put in place a plan for dealing with serious attacks, the Catalan emergency services said that they had asked the authorities to close metro and train stations in the area, and there were multiple reports that two gunmen had holed themselves up in a nearby bar.
“There has just been a massive trampling on the Ramblas in Barcelona by a person with a van,” The Catalan police said on Twitter. “There are injured.”“There has just been a massive trampling on the Ramblas in Barcelona by a person with a van,” The Catalan police said on Twitter. “There are injured.”
Vehicles have been used in several recent attacks in Europe. In the French resort city of Nice, a man drove a rental truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the seaside Promenade des Anglais last year, killing 86 people.Vehicles have been used in several recent attacks in Europe. In the French resort city of Nice, a man drove a rental truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the seaside Promenade des Anglais last year, killing 86 people.
A few days before Christmas last year, a driver in a stolen van mowed down unsuspecting shoppers at a holiday market in Berlin, killing 12 people and wounding dozens.A few days before Christmas last year, a driver in a stolen van mowed down unsuspecting shoppers at a holiday market in Berlin, killing 12 people and wounding dozens.
At least seven civilians were killed and dozens injured in June when knife-wielding assailants sped across London Bridge in a white van, ramming numerous pedestrians before emerging with large hunting knives to attack the capital’s Borough Market, a crowded nightspot. The Islamic State claimed responsibility, saying the attack had been carried out by “a detachment of Islamic State fighters.” At least seven civilians were killed and dozens injured in June when knife-wielding assailants sped across London Bridge in a white van, ramming numerous pedestrians before emerging with large hunting knives to attack the capital’s Borough Market, a crowded nightspot.
That attack was reminiscent of another, on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22, when Khalid Masood, 52, drove a car into pedestrians, killing four people. He then stabbed a police officer to death near Parliament before himself being shot and killed. The police treated that attack, in which 50 were injured, as “Islamist-related terrorism.” The Islamic State claimed responsibility, saying the attack had been carried out by “a detachment of Islamic State fighters.”
That attack was reminiscent of another, on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22, when Khalid Masood, 52, drove a car into pedestrians, killing four people.
He then stabbed a police officer to death near Parliament before himself being shot and killed. The police treated that attack, in which 50 were injured, as “Islamist-related terrorism.”
There have been other deadly attacks using vehicles that were not related to Islamist extremists. A British man rammed a rental van into a congregation of Muslims leaving prayers in North London during Ramadan, and a man who was part of white supremacist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va., drove his car into a crowd on Saturday, killing a woman.