Three Australian friends have spoken of the ‘pandemonium’ they witnessed after a van jumped onto a sidewalk in Barcelona, killing at least 16 people and injuring 100 more, including a woman from New South Wales.
Julia Monaco and her friends Alana Reader and Julia Rocca were inside Urban Outfitters on Placa de Catalyuna in the city’s historic Las Ramblas district when the doors were locked and they were trapped inside.
The Melbourne women were initially confused but didn’t think the situation was too dire – until a large crowd gathered outside the store.
‘In a split second, it became absolutely pandemonium,’ Ms Monaco, 26, told nine.com.au.
Three Melbourne women were trapped inside a store in Barcelona after a van plowed into pedestrians. Pictured from left, Julia Rocca, Steph Lamb, Julia Monaco and Alana Reader on holiday in Rome
‘We didn’t see the van, we could just see the crowds and the police and some people who had clearly seen something terrible happen.’
Ms Monaco said she saw around 200 people crowded outside and then heard screams.
‘People were literally pushing to get into the store off the street… we were genuinely terrified.’
It happened after a white van sped down a pedestrian zone, swerving from side to side as it plowed into tourists and locals on Thursday afternoon.
Authorities called it a terror attack. At least 16 people were killed and 100 more were wounded, 15 of them seriously.
People react and stand around in the Las Ramblas area in Barcelona, Spain as police investigate a damaged van, believed to be the one used in the terror attack
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said 16 people were killed in the attack and at least 100 injured
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced on Friday morning that one Australian woman is in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
She said that two Melbourne men were also ‘directly affected’ by the incident.
A Melbourne woman called Raelene told 3AW that her son is on holiday in Barcelona and has been told his two friends have been injured.
‘There has been another terrorist atrocity overnight in Barcelona Spain,’ Ms Bishop said.
‘The situation is still unfolding, but at this stage we are informed that at least 16 people have been killed, at least 100 people injured.
‘The Australian Government condemns this brutal and deliberate act clearly designed to harm tourists on holidays in Spain.
‘The Australian Government extends its deepest sorrow to the to their families, to the people of Barcelona.
‘We stand with the Government – the people of Barcelona, we stand with the Government of Spain in denouncing this appalling act.’
She added: ‘I can report that one Australian woman, believed to be from NSW, is in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
‘Two young Australian men have advised us that they were directly affected. They have gone back to their hotel. They will seek medical treatment in the morning.’
Forensic policemen arrive in the cordoned off area after a van plowed into the crowd
Ms Monaco added that she and her friends, along with other shoppers huddled at the back of the store and were told to lie face-down on the floor and away from the windows.
When they were allowed to leave, they had to walk back to their hostel and avoid the numerous streets that had been closed by police.
Las Ramblas, a street of stalls and shops that cuts through the center of Barcelona, is one of the city’s top tourist destinations. People walk down a wide, pedestrian path in the center of the street while cars can travel on either side.
Police immediately cordoned off the city’s broad avenue and ordered stores and nearby Metro and train stations to close.
They asked people to stay away from the area so as not to get in the way of emergency services. A helicopter hovered over the scene.
Police evacuated stores on the sprawling avenue where scores of people had taken cover.
State-owned broadcaster RTVE reported that investigators think two vans were used – one for the attack and a second as a getaway vehicle.
Spain has been on a security alert one step below the maximum since June 2015 following attacks elsewhere in Europe and Africa
The attack in the northeastern Spanish city was the country’s deadliest since 2004, when al-Qaeda-inspired bombers killed 192 people in coordinated attacks on Madrid’s commuter trains.
Spain has been on a security alert one step below the maximum since June 2015 following attacks elsewhere in Europe and Africa.
Cars, trucks and vans have been the weapon of choice in multiple extremist attacks in Europe in the last year.
The most deadly was the driver of a tractor-trailer who targeted Bastille Day revelers in the southern French city of Nice in July 2016, killing 86 people. In December 2016, 12 people died after a driver used a hijacked trick to drive into a Christmas market in Berlin.
There have been multiple attacks this year in London, where a man in a rented SUV plowed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four people before he ran onto the grounds of Parliament and stabbed an unarmed police officer to death in March.
Four other men drove onto the sidewalk of London Bridge, unleashing a rampage with knives that killed eight people in June. Another man also drove into pedestrians leaving a London mosque later in June.