At least 13 dead, 50 injured in Barcelona terror attack

Josep Lago/Getty Images(BARCELONA, Spain) — At least 13 people are dead and more than 50 are injured after a van slammed into pedestrians in a busy tourist spot in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday afternoon.

Local police have now called it a terror attack.

Earlier, a van slammed into pedestrians near Catalunya Square in Barcelona’s Las Ramblas district.

“We cannot say the reasons of this attack,” Catalan police wrote in a post on Twitter.

An eyewitness told a Spanish television station that the suspect was running people over in his van for nearly 1,000 feet before fleeing into a nearby Turkish restaurant.

The witness said the suspect had something in his hand, but he could not tell what it was.

Local police confirm that 13 victims have died after being hit by the vehicle.

Las Ramblas is a popular tourist area in Spain’s second-largest city.

The Barcelona transit system posted a message on its official Twitter account that numerous subway stations are closed, and it urged people near the area to remain in place until further instructions from police.

The U.S. Consulate in Barcelona posted a warning on Twitter, saying it is “aware of a reported incident at Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Please avoid the area.”

We are aware of a reported incident at Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Please avoid the area and monitor local police @mossos for updates.

— USConsulateBarcelona (@USConsulateBCN) August 17, 2017

The emergency services Twitter account for the Catalonia region, of which Barcelona is the capital, posted tweets in multiple languages advising individuals to use social media to inform relatives of their whereabouts.

#Barcelona #Rambles If you are ok, please Inform your family using social networks to avoid the collapse of phone lines

— 112 (@112) August 17, 2017

President Donald Trump is being updated on the situation in Spain by chief of staff John Kelly, according to a White House official.

Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

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