Extra precautions will be taken at Australian sporting fixtures, including next month’s footy finals, in the wake of the Barcelona terror attack that has claimed at least 13 lives.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday that Australia stands in ‘absolute resolute solidarity’ with the people of Spain in the fight against Islamist terrorism.
‘This is a global battle against terrorism,’ Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on Friday, adding that the love and prayers of Australians were with the victims and their families.
He also said that in the wake of the attack, further precautions would be taken to keep Australians safe in crowded places.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday that Australia stands in ‘absolute resolute solidarity’ with the people of Spain in the fight against Islamist terrorism
Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Tony Sheehan added: ‘When we come into periods where we have major events like football finals, you will see very close co-operation between state police, the football codes and the owners and operators of the venue in respect to security of those crowded places.’
Australia’s national terrorism threat level remains at probable following an assessment by security and intelligence authorities.
‘We’ve had a look at it under the lens of the tragic events in Spain last night and at this stage, there is no change,’ Director-General of Security Duncan Lewis said.
The attack in Barcelona’s popular Las Ramblas area left at least 13 people dead – Mr Turnbull put the toll at 16 and said it could rise – and 100 injured, 15 of them seriously.
Mr Turnbull said three Australians were injured, including a NSW woman who is in a serious but stable condition in hospital. Two Victorian men were also ‘affected’ by the attack.
Forensic police officers search for clues near the area where a van crashed into pedestrians
The van that plowed into the crowd, killing at least 13 people and injuring around 100 more
The Islamic State claimed responsibility, saying in a statement on its Amaq news agency that the attack was carried out by ‘soldiers of the Islamic State’ in response to their calls for followers to target countries participating in the coalition trying to drive it from Syria and Iraq.
In the early hours of Friday, Spanish police said they have killed several people in Cambrils, a resort town southwest of Barcelona, in response to the terrorist attack.
Meanwhile, Mr Turnbull said the government is working to ensure Australians are safe at home and abroad.
‘We are tirelessly, all of us in the government, minsters, heads of agencies, like the gentleman beside me today, constantly focused on keeping Australians safe,’ he said.
‘Every time there is an incident, whether it is abroad or at home, we learn from it, and we continue to refine and advance, and improve our ability to keep Australians safe.
‘Our agencies are the best in the world.’
He cited a recent foiled plot to take down a passenger plane flying out of Sydney Airport, saying: ‘The remarkable work the teams these two gentleman lead, and the AFP and the NSW Police and other agencies did in disrupting and containing the terrorist plot in Sydney recently to destroy an aeroplane is an example of the professionalism and the commitment our agencies have in keeping Australians safe.’
As well as the three Australians injured in the Barcelona attack, others who witnessed it have spoken out about the chaos that unfolded.
Tourists wait for the police to allow them to come back to their hotel on the Rambla boulevard
MFB Commander Graeme O’Sullivan was one of the first responders at Melbourne’s Bourke Street tragedy in January.
He and his wife saw the latest carnage unfold from the rooftop of their Barcelona hotel.
‘We were up on the sixth floor roof terrace, just the pool area, enjoying a few drinks,’ he told Nine.
‘We could clearly hear thuds as the vehicle was running into people, and then a short time after that, obviously, several very loud sickening screams from the people involved down at street level.’
Mr O’Sullivan said the similarity to the Bourke Street Mall event was chilling.
‘Bourke Street wasn’t terrorism and this appears to be, but the result is still the same,’ he told Melbourne radio 3AW.
Australian cyber safety expert Susan McLean was about 100m away as the van zigzagged down the busy avenue, mowing down pedestrians and leaving bodies strewn across the ground.
‘All of a sudden there was this tidal wave of people running from both Placa de Catalunya and Las Ramblas towards us screaming, crying and with absolute terror etched on their faces,’ she told Nine Network on Friday.
‘Several of them were calling ‘gun, gun’, so first of all we thought someone had been shot.
Australian witnesses described the attack as reminiscent of the Bourke Strert Mall rampage in January (above)
‘Then they just kept sort of – it was all in Spanish, it was very difficult to understand – but they were sort of pushing us into shops.’
Ms McLean, who was separated from her husband in the panic, also said the scene reminded her of the Bourke Street Mall rampage.
‘My first reaction was the Bourke Street massacre, because that is what it reminded me of – the vision of people fleeing in just such terror,’ she said.
Australian Gil Van Der Venne also witnessed the attack unfold from his hotel balcony.
‘You hear this screaming, the mayhem,’ he told 3AW.
‘There was at least five bodies that I saw.
‘The van, I believe, had probably travelled about three-quarters down Las Ramblas.’
Melbourne holiday-maker Julia Monaco said local police ordered her and her family inside a shop as the attack happened.
‘In a split second it all kind of changed and everyone just started running and panicking and running for their lives and crying and screaming and we were forced back into the store, told to get away from the windows and to get low on the ground,’ she told Nine.
‘We were huddled at the very back of the store, lying flat on the floor, and were in that position for about 20 minutes.’