‘ mind, just n ‘ur mn n 'u fi ‘ur ‘w ll ml il1-‘l1'l1l1'll ill w1 ‘al ml il1-‘l1ll'll ill wflflf my mind, just thinking to myself, you know, is it safe? you never think that it is going to happen to you, you never think that you are going to see it. you just see it on the news. that time that you do see it, it is so surreal that you cannot even it, it is so surreal that you cannot eve n process it, it is so surreal that you cannot even process it. obviously, there is a lwa ys even process it. obviously, there is always the question, whether you should stay at home but you have two... life goes on. it was definitely the most horrible thing i've ever seen in my life. ui you are watching bbc news bbc news, terrorist attack at the heart of barcelona. more than 30 people have

been entered, ten of them seriously. police shouted at everyone. it was just a loud, crashing noise. just an immediate stampede. the vehicle flowed into people at las ramblas, an area popular with two arrests. spanish media have reported that two armed men have barricaded themselves into a armed men have barricaded themselves intoa bar armed men have barricaded themselves into a bar in the area. it is not clear if they are connected to the van attack. url in the bbc news special on the events in the last few hours in barcelona. police have said they are dealing with an ongoing terrorist attack after an

van ploughed into people in one of the busiest areas of the city. details have been coming through gci’oss details have been coming through across the last few hours. police have confirmed that at least one person has died, 32 injured, ten seriously. this incident happened at las ramblas, one of the most popular two wrist parts of the city. major thoroughfare. it is in the middle of barcelona, particularly popular with two wrist because of bath and restau ra nts. two wrist because of bath and restaurants. witnesses have described hundreds of people running down the streets, some hid in shops, and we spoke to one man who was sheltering in a church. spanish media have reported that two armed men are holed up in a bar and some reports that they had taken hostages but i have got to stress that

particular line has not been confirmed by police. some of the details are still sketchy. we can work out what we know. over security correspondent has been following this. inevitably, we start with casualties and otherwise. the authorities have not been keen to put specific numbers on that? we have had one statement from the cata la n have had one statement from the catalan authorities, confirming one dead and many injured. but they have stressed that was provisional. so far, relatively little on the number of casualties. in terms of what happened, it was striking that the police said quickly they were treating this as a terrorist attack. it is the nature of what happened. he posted quickly that it looked

like the van mounted the pavement. las ramblas, it is a very busy tourist area, especially in the summer. tourist area, especially in the summer. that immediately gave the suspicion it was terrorist related. and after the incident police said they believed it was. and we reg retta bly they believed it was. and we regrettably talk frequently have soft targets. again, this is an example. and a methodology that has been used by groups over the years. at nice, a lorry on bastille day. germany, driven into people at christmas markets. stockholm, a van in the city centre. and add london, we have seen london bridge and finsbury park. we have seen this

methodology, often going for those high—profile, busy and iconic targets like las ramblas at barcelona. thank you. we will let you get more details. thank you. we have been reflecting on what a densely populated area this is, popular area. it could well have been that a lot of local people, spanish people have been caught up in this. but barcelona is a massive draw for tourists. and this particular street, tourist hotspot. we have been talking to a lot of tourists and we can talk to another one. iam tourists and we can talk to another one. i am joined tourists and we can talk to another one. iamjoined by tourists and we can talk to another one. i am joined by kevin. tourists and we can talk to another one. iam joined by kevin. an american who i believe is on holiday in barcelona. explain what you have witnessed in the city this afternoon. hi. we are your own --

here on honeymoon. we were eating at the markets, next to las ramblas. and in the corner of that market, as we we re and in the corner of that market, as we were eating, suddenly hundreds of people came running into the market, towards us. knocking over tables. really panicking. people running. and did you understand what was happening? not at all. it was confusing but obviously people were extremely panicked and we got up and started running as well. they were ploughing into anyone. as we came

out of the market, we were on las ramblas, where the market had happened. we ran out of the market, into a lot of people lying on the street, and a lot of casualties. the first responder is coming to the scene. and what have people been saying? i have spoken to a lot of people who have had similar experiences over the last few hours? some people talked about panic, confusion, what would you say and what was going on? the people who had been out there when it happened oi’ had been out there when it happened orjust crying. standing on the street, weeping. and as we ran out, somebody said they hit all the

people. just crying. it was very confusing because it was a lot of activity happening. the police were coming from the north side, huge crowds running from that side... also running from where the accident had just happened. and the armed police, with salt rifles —— assault rifles sweeped the area. everybody was panicked about which we, way we should go. and you said that you had chosen barcelona for your honeymoon. any conversations about where you wa nted any conversations about where you wanted to go, where you felt

comfortable? was this something that you thought about when climbing? previously we were in london and stockholm, and the next destination after here is paris. we did talk a bit, these are high profile european cities. we knew that these things could happen. buti cities. we knew that these things could happen. but i guess you just hope it is not going to happen to the people that you love. try to live your life. of course. and how are you feeling now? you have managed to get away, do you feel the authorities are in control of the situation? what is your feeling? we we re situation? what is your feeling? we were locked down right about, 20 metres from the final crash site. we

could see all the activity and a lot of people hiding, with police around. they didn't want anyone to flee the area. the police wanted to keep the streets clear. tense minutes, hearing the helicopter overhead. that police running past us overhead. that police running past us with rifles, shouting. but finally they said that our area was clear. let us and others out. by the city is still feeling very tense, metro shut down. no traffic allowed near placa de catalunya. people cannot take the bus. we are doing a 6km walk home right now. we hope that you get home safely. thank you

for talking to us. it is good of you to talk to us after what you have been through. thank you so much. we can talk to another man, in fact another american two wrist —— tourist. in the area. robert... tell us tourist. in the area. robert... tell us about your experience. tourist. in the area. robert... tell us about your experiencelj tourist. in the area. robert... tell us about your experience. i was in a store, about to purchase something and suddenly they said close the tills, close the tills, nobody can read. —— leave. and long story short, i was trying to make a purchase, they said no one can leave, and after five purchase, they said no one can leave, and afterfive minutes purchase, they said no one can leave, and after five minutes they

said towards my general direction. i did a 180 turn. ran into a random apartment block. block of flats. ran up apartment block. block of flats. ran up some stairs. i thought it was probably not a good idea to be close to any windows, stayed on the ground floor. eventually the police told us that we could leave, we walked, get was a pretty generally horrible experience. thank you for talking to us. experience. thank you for talking to us. the line is difficult. we will let you go. but thank you so much for speaking to us. the reuters news agency has reported that police have

found a second van they believe is connected to this attack. the police have said that they have found a second van and from what i understand it is at a different town, not barcelona. we will try to get you some details. and the us secretary of state rex tillerson has been talking about this and he said that the united states stands ready to assist the spanish authorities. united states standing ready to assist the spanish authorities. we can talk to a bbc correspondent at the city. he works for our colleagues. i understand he is in barcelona. explain i am about 100

metres from the scene of the attack. ican metres from the scene of the attack. i can see many police officers and tourists are still being directed out of the area. it is one of the most populous and crowded areas during the day and evenings. especially, tourists a large crowd they are trying to direct out of the area. helicopters overhead. not letting people go in, making sure people get out. and of course a lot of people are following what is going on on social media, reports that have been varying from different sources. many people injured. also, i saw in the

old town, historic parts of the city. going from restaurants to restau ra nts, city. going from restaurants to restaurants, door to door with guns, obviously looking for the man who ran obviously looking for the man who ra n after obviously looking for the man who ran after allegedly attacking people as the driver. thatjust gives you the sense of what is going on in the old town next to las ramblas. and essentially the police trying to say to people just stay indoors? cordoning off streets? stay inside? that is the situation as far as you can tell? they want people as far away from the centre, you can hear

the chopper... telling people, because the suspect is on the run as many understand it, better not to come out. don't come out to the area. the area the attack happened and where they are searching. thank you very much. i imagine we will be talking to you over the course of the next few hours. but we will let you talk to the authorities. thank you talk to the authorities. thank you very much. one of my colleagues from the bbc persian service in barcelona. clearly, a lot of activity. tourists, still very much being cleared from central areas. we can also told, talk to a correspondent, based out of madrid.

with that sense of distance, are you able to stand back and give us a sense of partly what the spanish media have been saying and how this attack is being responded to across the country as a whole? we have that official figure, the country as a whole? we have that officialfigure, one death the country as a whole? we have that official figure, one death confirmed by catalan authorities, but the cata la n by catalan authorities, but the catalan ministers said that it is going to be more. reports that at least 13 dead. quite wide reports in newspapers across spain. it has not been confirmed by authorities. some information about that van that was found. it was found in a town just outside barcelona, and the waiting

for somebody to escape. the authorities seem to be cheating that van as suspicious. possibly with some connection to this attack. we also have reports of three police officers being hit elsewhere in the city of barcelona. that has just emerged. we do not know if that is connected. it is a chaotic scene, a lot of confusion and we are waiting for some solid facts to come out from the government and officials. and sadly, when you have an attack of this nature it becomes almost instinct to talk about security and has also of security is present in the area. but that in itself is a

difficult question because we have seen difficult question because we have seen this trend of attacks on soft targets. busy tourist street. local people and tourists. soft targets. the authorities would say it is only so the authorities would say it is only so much that they can do. recently i was speaking to a security official at the foreign embassy and he said that he thought the interior ministry was very worried about this. the spanish interior ministry was extremely worried about the sort of attack. it is very difficult to stop. barcelona would appear to be a very obvious target, it is so popular with tourists and so heavily populated at this time of the year. las ramblas, it isjust populated at this time of the year. las ramblas, it is just full of people. cars can get near it. a big

police presence there but only so much you can do. obviously reacting quickly, but only so much you can do. armed police nearby. thank you. we will get back to you over the course of the next few hours but we will let you get more details from the authorities. my colleague andy is with me. you have been monitoring all of the various outlets, looking at what the authorities have been saying. it has been several hours, but still a good degree of confusion. assess what we know for sure? what we have got from the cata la n sure? what we have got from the catalan police, who have been very good on updating people,