Terrorist Attack in Barcelona Kills Twelve
ISIS Hits Las Ramblas
David Ramos / Getty
Terror struck in Barcelona today, as two men claiming allegiance to ISIS drove a van along a pedestrian passage of the Las Ramblas thoroughfare. A dozen people were killed, eighty injured. Reporters for the Washington Post described the scene:
The attack broke the peace of a warm summer afternoon in a packed, touristy area of Barcelona at the peak of vacation season, and the victims came from places far beyond the city borders. Grave-faced authorities announcing the casualties said the death toll could rise and that 15 people had suffered serious injuries. Catalan police said they have detained two people in connection with the attack. A Spanish security official said the van was rented using the identification card of a local resident whose name was widely circulated in local media. But the man turned himself in to police and said he had lost his identification card, the security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an open investigation.
According to the Times:
Within hours, the Islamic State claimed that the perpetrators were its “soldiers,” adding Spain to the list of European countries — including France and Britain — where vehicles have been used in attacks on civilians.
Until today, Spain had avoided the recent series of terrorist attacks across Western Europe.
That changed in an instant [Thursday], with witnesses describing people screaming and running for their lives as the driver of the van weaved back and forth just before 6 p.m., apparently trying to hit as many people as he could. Police officers swept through the area near Las Ramblas, a wide boulevard with a large pedestrianized section, telling people to get out of the area. “I heard a crowd screaming,” Tom Markwell, a tourist from New Orleans, told the BBC. “It sounded like they were screaming for a movie star.”