a big 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, we know that we had a van mowing down a lot of people on las ramblas, the

pedestrianised area in central barcelona. several people killed. at them, it stands at one, according to them, it stands at one, according to the police. ten seriously injured. 32 total injured. that is the casualty figure at the moment. but the media, wa keley casualty figure at the moment. but the media, wakeley reporting that as many as 13 killed. police have said that they were looking for at least one suspect who managed to make their way away from the van on foot. police denying reports there had been gunfire. that is what we have officially got on the record. but other reports swiling around, two gunmen holed up in a local bar with hostages. those reports came out some time ago. nothing further. that

particular point has been confused. a lot of spanish media adamant about that for a while. but the police have not been talking about that angle? on the record, they said no gunfire. police have said that was not the case. this has been reminiscent of a lot of terrorist attacks, you have got reports from all over the police and some of them are accurate and some seem are accurate and some seem incredible, eventually turning out to be correct. you remember that attacked her norway, the explosion attacked her norway, the explosion at the centre of the city and then afterwards we had reports of gunfire on an island far away. it was linked. it seemed incredible but in the end they were linked. we have

just got to wait and see which of these reports are accurate. and the police have said that they could not, would not, speculate on the motives for this. this is what we a lwa ys motives for this. this is what we always look for such a grim time. the hardest thing to work out. sometimes we never know. the hardest thing to work out. sometimes we never knowm the hardest thing to work out. sometimes we never know. it is interesting that the police declare this a terror incident. why was that? do they have information that we are not party to at the moment? from the start it certainly looked like a terrorist attack. the location, las ramblas, if you are a terrorist, certainly las ramblas is the place that you would choose add barcelona. from the start it looked suspicious. but were clear it was a police terrorist attack. we do not

know if anybody has claimed responsibility. we do not know how the police made that decision. but they said it was political motives. we do not know if it is one man, two... if this van in another location, near barcelona is linked. several hours, still confused. but the central thing is that at least one suspect is still on the loose. thank you. i know that you're going to be staying with us. and the confirmation that one person has died, 32 injured. but spanish media speculating that those numbers are going to rise further. we can hear

from one british holiday—maker. a british solicitor on holiday. he told me what he had seen and heard. it isa told me what he had seen and heard. it is a beautiful sunny day, las ramblas is in the centre of the city and it is jam—packed with tourists. i was about to sit down and have something to eat, but seconds later it was a crashing noise. the whole street, screaming. everybody started to run, so i started running and shops shut, kids were screaming. after seconds, police officers were out. i noticed yesterday when i arrived, it was a heavy police presence. guns were out. ambulances and fire engines. we could see at the top of the street, so many vans.

i tried to get into a shop, people we re i tried to get into a shop, people were panicking and the shopkeeper said something about a van. i tried to ask him and he said he thought that he had seen a van driving into a crowd. five, six people seriously injured. at that point, that ambulance and fire brigade were on the scene and people were panicking. we were pushed back and pushed back again. the police are absolutely everywhere at the moment. that is just one of the many tourists that we have been talking to. we can also speak to ethan who was nearby. my boyfriend and i orjust walking back from the beach. we were just about to cross las ramblas and we could

sense that something was strange. my boyfriend felt something odd. and all of a sudden, the police started shooting at everybody to start running. it was a crashing noise. but i was not going to stop and look back. it was an instant stampede down all the streets. by las ramblas. we are in a church with tourists and locals. the police are oversight. we're just waiting for more news. it was scary to get caught up in this. and when you said it was a stampede, literally you mean you and lots of people just ran? the police told you to get out of the way? anybody who has been to barcelona knows how busy this area is. it was just the police shouting,

screams. . . is. it was just the police shouting, screams... people turned round insta ntly. screams... people turned round instantly. i had to stop to help a small child up, who was knocked over. but people were obviously getting separated from families, just running into shops nearby. shops were pulling down shutters. locking doors. some black people we re locking doors. some black people were going to bc. these are really narrow streets, it was a heavy stampede in the opposite direction. how many people are in the church? about 80 people. handing out food and drink. it is a large trucks, next to las ramblas. they have locked the doors. i understand that

the police are outside, everybody just anxiously waiting to hear more. and while you are inside the church, you only know what is going on because you are following social media, watching television, streaming tv? i have had about 50, 60 messages over the last ten minutes. first one went to my pa rents. minutes. first one went to my parents. but from what we have seen on television, we understand it is possibly a hostage situation going on. it could be 100 metres away from the church where we are. it is in lockdown. that is what i understand. that was a british to rest —— tourist talking to me earlier, sheltering in the wake of this terrorist attack in barcelona. this is bbc news, i'mjane hill.

this is bbc news, i'mjane hill. this is bbc news, i'mjane hill. this is our main story here this evening. a terror attack in the heart of barcelona — a van ploughs into pedestrians in las ramblas, a district popular with tourists. it was all of us, and police shouted at everyone to run. there was a really loud crashing noise. i did not stop to look back. it was just an immediate stampede in the opposite direction. police in the city confirm at least one person has died and more than 30 have been injured. ten are in a serious condition. spanish police say they are searching for the driver, who fled the scene on foot. they are advising people to stay away from the area.