tv Outside Source BBC News August 17, 2017 8:30pm-9:01pm BST
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hello, i'm philippa thomas and you are watching outside source. terror on the streets of barcelona as a van ploughs into a crowd in the popular tourist area of las ramblas. the cata la n tourist area of las ramblas. the catalan government is at least 12 are dead. he looked as if he was going from left to right, hitting people with a little stands. there we re people with a little stands. there were people shopping, basically, and people were screaming and running. cata la n people were screaming and running. catalan police say this was a terror attack. with the past few minutes they say two people have been arrested. —— within the past two minutes. welcome to outside source. we are continuing our live coverage of the terror attack in spain, where a van has driven into crowds killing at least 12 or 13 people. to recap what we know, this happened in barcelona in the north—east of spain, and in
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fa ct, in the north—east of spain, and in fact, if i take you into the city, we can show you the area involved. those of you who have been there will know that las ramblas is a real tourist hotspot, always very busy. a white van mounted the pavement and drove into pedestrians. we believe 13 have been killed, more than 50 others injured. according to police, this is how it happened. the van entered an area at the top of the strip from the north side and careered down at speed coming to about halfway down the strip of las ramblas. to give you an idea of how busy this area always is, here is a picture from its just yesterday. packed with residents and tourists. on twitter they have confirmed they have arrested one person. they've also said that despite the reports that so frightened people in the city over the last few hours, there are no other gunmen in a bar and no hostage situation. another fact we can bring you that —— that we can
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bring you — this man rented the van involved in the incident, driss oubakir. this has officially been named a terrorist attack. ijust wa nt to named a terrorist attack. ijust want to bring you some of the reaction coming in. barack obama, the former us president, of course — michelle and i are thinking of the victims. americans will always stand with our spanish friends. the government and people of ireland stand with the people of barcelona. we offer sympathy, solidarity and support. emmanuel macron. of course france has seen so support. emmanuel macron. of course france has seen so much terror in the last few years. solidarity with barcelona and we stand with you. we are by your side. the catalan government, we have referred to them already saying all of us willjoin together to defeat the violence.
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barcelona is a city of peace. i was telling you just a minute ago that in las ramblas there are always foreign tourists. it is very popular, a very busy area, and the driver of the value exactly what he was doing when he there. —— the driver of the van knew exactly what he was doing. one witness told us what she saw. we were in a market which is on las ramblas and we were about to go back onto the main street. we stopped to look at some ca kes street. we stopped to look at some cakes in the bakery and suddenly there was screaming and hundreds of people just swarmed towards the screaming, and running and lots of confusion. we ran into the bakery and ran upstairs to hide. as we looked out the window people were still running through the market. there were hundreds and hundreds of
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people running through the market. shutters were coming down. lots of screaming and running. then we waited a few minutes for things to come down and we were told we could go out, so we went back out into the market and a second wave hit, and we we re market and a second wave hit, and we were told it wasn't safe, we had to get back inside. the police swept through the market with guns, and from where we were, we could see through the market, and there were about seven police officers with guns rounding around a doorway, and that's the point when we just hid under the table upstairs in the ba kery under the table upstairs in the bakery and we just waited to hear. there was a woman waiting with us saying she had one off las ramblas and she had heard gunshots. we were there for about a0 minutes, i think, hiding, and then we were told it was safe to come out but we must move away from the area. i am just into bring you some more news coming in. this is very much developing. two
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people have been arrested after the attack. this seems to have been related to what happened. the van going down las ramblas, the catalan police confirming a driver ran into two policeman at a barcelona checkpoint earlier on thursday. this appeared to happen at a street nearby, a main thoroughfare, so we will learn more about that and it might be that that is how the driver was trying to get away. the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy con is on his way to barcelona, and we have heard from the russian president calling for the world to unite in an uncompromising battle against the forces of terror. that coming from the kremlin. something else i should tell you, although i am just going to tell you this has just popped up on the bbc live page online. so—called islamic state are claiming
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responsibility. that is a claim being made by the is—linked news page. i'm not going to give that credibility. but no further claims of responsibility. for the time being, that's get you more from the ground about what is happening in barcelona because the situation is not entirely calm and a lot of people, a lot of nerves on edge. guy, can you tell us what you know about the situation now?|j guy, can you tell us what you know about the situation now? i am in the capital, madrid, at the moment. i have been following events from madrid rather than in barcelona. but what i can say is there is a great deal of confusion and we've also been hearing conflicting numbers of people killed, the injuries. we've heard from the catalan regional premiere, who confirmed that figure
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of 13 killed. 80 people injured, he said. several of those are serious. the latest reports we've heard from some media are that a suspect was killed in a shoot out with police after running over that police man ina after running over that police man in a control point. but a great deal of confusion and we are waiting for further confirmation from authorities. i just further confirmation from authorities. ijust refer to a claim of responsibility that seems to have p°pped of responsibility that seems to have normed up of responsibility that seems to have popped up possibly from the so—called islamic state. we don't know yet but there must be a lot being said in spain by politicians and the media about who this could have been. yes, on the part of police there was some caution when the attack took place regarding whether it was a terrorist attack or not. they quite soon confirmed that
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it was. but in terms of authorship, we haven't heard any theories being spoken about by the authorities or by the police yet. i think, yes, it is important to say we don't know. the police haven't said anything about this and the government hasn't said anything about this yet. i take what you say about the fact that you are monitoring this from madrid. i presume in madrid ‘s security will be pretty tight, because with situations and events like this, you don't know whether there will be anything related unfolding. exactly. that's right. i think even in madrid, people have been rather nervous about events unfolding in barcelona. in the last year or two we have seen a heavy police presence on the streets and in airports and in railway stations, particularly in the summer months, when there are lots of people out on the streets.
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we've seen a big armed police presence already so it seems to be something they are prepared for. both in madrid and barcelona and other cities across spain. so obviously people are nervous and they've been following the events in barcelona is very closely. many people here in madrid. thank you for bringing us up to date and monitoring the situation in madrid for us, what is being said in spain about this. if you are justjoining us, iwant about this. if you are justjoining us, i want to remind you of our main story. a van has driven into crowds killing 12 or 13 people in barcelona, spain, and injuring 50 at least. tom markwell is a tourist from new orleans who had just arrived in the city when the attack began unfolding in front of him. this is what he saw. this afternoon, icame in this is what he saw. this afternoon, i came in on a flight and i was in a taxi just turning onto las ramblas
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and maybe just a taxi just turning onto las ramblas and maybejust a block taxi just turning onto las ramblas and maybe just a block and a half from my hotel. i was just looking at the boulevard, from the back of the taxi. and then i heard this group of people scream at the same time. and you just don't think of this, naturally. and then i looked to my left, and i saw a white van with its front looking like it was broken out. and it was going as... at first i thought it must be somebodyjust working and driving, like a service vehicle. then i realised he was going entirely too fast. it looked to me as if he was going left—to—right, hitting people at the little stands. there were people shopping, basically. and all of a sudden people were just screaming and running. my taxi stopped. we knew immediately, you know, naturally, what was happening and what was going on at that moment. and we waited for a second. and my taxi driverjust started saying, oh my god, oh my god. and i was in shock.
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and then we just turned right around the corner, because i was literally to my hotel. and i ran into the hotel. and then everyone was running into any space, of course, that they could find safety. and they were coming into the hotel and screaming. interestingly, i turned around and they were starting to run the other way. and that was when the hotel staff put me behind the front desk down on the ground. and that that point ijust... it just seemed surreal. they got all of us together into a ballroom, just in the entrance of the hotel, which to me didn't feel safe at all because there was really no... there was nobody armed to protect the room of people. and for better or for worse, i left the room and i said, just give me a room key now.
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they gave me a key and i came upstairs. i figured i would rather be one person in hundreds of rooms than hundreds of people in one room. and now i'm just... as i can see everybody across at the other hotel, everybody is just watching out of their window, watching, what now? tom markwell, one of those witnesses who gave us his time and account of what happened. you can hear the shakiness in his voice there, and no wonder. with me again our correspondent tom burridge. you are staying on top of this story and the figures are changing. what is the latest? there are two different figures for the number of people who have died. it is either 12 or 13 people dead. i think the latest figure seems to be 12. that is the one most spanish news sources are giving and that comes from the cata la n giving and that comes from the catalan government in the last hour or $0. catalan government in the last hour
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or so. and some injured, some seriously? yes, it can be anybody affected, so some traumatised in the area. they are talking about 80 people in hospital injured and 15 of those in a very serious condition. i've seen a couple of videos which have been sent from journalist collea g u es have been sent from journalist colleagues in spain, too graphic to show. it is really, really shocking what has happened. a lot of people clearly seriously injured. including some children. so it is an absolutely horrible scene. going onto the investigation, at the moment, mossos, that is the catalan police force, they have tweeted and confirmed this line is that a driver ran down two mossos police officers ata ran down two mossos police officers at a police control in barcelona. we believe that was on diagonal, and they are saying that seem to be the case. they then located the suspect, the driver of that vehicle, in sant
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just desvern, which isjust the driver of that vehicle, in sant just desvern, which is just west of the city, a couple of kilometres outside of barcelona, and according to lots of reports on the spanish media, trustworthy sources, there was a shoot out and one suspect has been killed. aside from that, there are two people, coming from official information, this, coming from police custody, one of them being the man who rented the fan who ran people down on that area so popular with tourists in central barcelona, las ramblas. —— who rented the van. so the running on police and the shoot out, it is not necessarily the case this was the van or the driver who shot down... we just don't know. there are reports of the van driver fleeing the scene on foot. then there were these very confusing reports which have definitely been ruled out now about people held up
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ina bar, ruled out now about people held up in a bar, but that information seems to be incorrect. but a vehicle after the incident, possibly a few hours asa the incident, possibly a few hours as a rough time scale, went through as a rough time scale, went through a police control, police followed the vehicle to the edge of barcelona and there was a shoot out and the police are saying one suspect has definitely been killed. so one van involved or two vehicles. you have also been following what has been happening in vic. we should treat this with a lot of caution at the moment but coming from a fairly decent source, the mayor of the town. it is about ten climate is outside of barcelona and a fairly quiet place on an average day. —— ten kilometres. according to the mayor it is being considered as part of the investigation for now. as time goes on, it could be that is ruled out because at this stage, the
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police are inevitably following every single reed and taking nothing for granted and taking no chances. barcelona, we're hearing some spanish journalists barcelona, we're hearing some spanishjournalists on barcelona, we're hearing some spanish journalists on the ground, spanish journalists on the ground, spanish radio, the city is really in lockdown and there is a heavy police presence, a lot of police controls and nervousness. tourists and locals across the city in bars devastated about what has happened. there is going to be a minute's silence in plaza catalunya, going to be a minute's silence in plaza catalu nya, just going to be a minute's silence in plaza catalunya, just up from las ramblas, at 12pm local time tomorrow. the mayoress has come out saying people should not be scared tomorrow. the people of barcelona need to go back on the streets and show these people we are not scared. that was the message coming from adder call—out, the mayor of barcelona. —— from ada colau.|j adder call—out, the mayor of barcelona. -- from ada colau. i know you will keep trying to draw the links for us. we are going to be
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com pletely links for us. we are going to be completely clear about what we know and what we don't know and are trying to establish. we will bring you any breaking news lines from barcelona. but also i will bring you other news from around the world. police in the philippines say they have killed another 26 suspected drug dealers and arrested dozens more and operations ordered by the president. the latest deaths mean at least 58 have been killed in the past three days as the country's war on drugs intensifies. one knight, 26 dead. the war on drugs is back with a vengeance. as so drugs is back with a vengeance. as so often before, the police say they fired in self—defence. translation: as we arrived, two men shot at and fought our officers. that's why they were killed. the police are calling this a one—time
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big—time anti—drugs and crime operation. another like it the night before killed 32 people. as before, these killings occurred in poor neighbourhoods. the focus of the drug warfrom its neighbourhoods. the focus of the drug war from its start. the president was forced to suspend the campaign back in february after police officers were found to have murdered a korean businessman. but he offered no apology for restarting it. translation: 32 died. that's good. if we could kill 32 every day, maybe we could fix this country. when he launched his drugs war last year, the president promised to end the problem within 35 and six months. he now says he was over asked —— overoptimistic. —— within three to six months. even past the deadline,
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the killing goes on. and back to our main story. we are going to keep you updated with everything that is coming out of barcelona, where we are now seeing 13 people have been killed, 50 injured with a van ploughing through crowds of residents and tourists on las ramblas, that very popular area for residents and tourists in the heart of barcelona. a lot of reaction coming from around the world. just remind you, from the new president of france, emmanuel macron, with the french having suffered from terror attacks so much over the last few years. he says, solidarity with barcelona. barack obama saying, michelle and i thinking of the victims and their families. we will always stand with our spanish friends. the current
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first lady was very quick to say, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of barcelona. just to remind you what is happening there now. still big security operations and a lot of fear on the ground. i've been talking to a correspondent from bbc persia. the crowds were being directed out of this area up until maybe ten minutes ago. itjust shows what a massive population was in that area, because, as we know, it is one of the most visited parts of barcelona. panic still continues to be the mood because a few minutes ago, a crowd got scared of something, we don't know what, and they started running, and behind there were police officers with guns just right behind me, following and chasing as if there was somebody in that crowd that they wanted to rest. then everybody dissipated and wasn't clear where it all started. itjust gives you a sense of how worried the
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population is. you know, how word gets out something is happening and it might be a mistake, but it creates panic. so there are choppers overhead in the last few hours, and, as you said, right behind here is the centre of where it all happened and there are images of police with big guns, long guns, going from street to street, especially in the old part of barcelona, which is the other end of las ramblas, and chasing people and making sure every house and restaurant, making sure the person they are chasing is not there, and continuing the search. we now have reports at least one has been arrested and that one has been killed. it is not clear if this is the case. nevertheless, the city of barcelona, where i was seven hours ago, the place where the attack happened, has changed drastically in the last few hours, and it is just panic with many people waiting to see where it will all wrapped up, when it will all wrapped up, so they
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can go back to normal. many cannot go back to their hotels because it is in go back to their hotels because it isina go back to their hotels because it is in a cordoned area. many hotels are in las ramblas and on the boulevard where this happened, so it's affecting many tourists as well. it is ongoing with the investigation and the area that has been cordoned off for crowds. as you have been talking, i've heard the sirens and seen the blue flashing lights going by. we only have one name so lights going by. we only have one name so far from the police, driss oubakir, who they say rented the van involved, but just oubakir, who they say rented the van involved, butjust remind us, in the last few hours, many in the city have been frightened because there we re have been frightened because there were rumours about gun men, about a possible hostage. many. in fact, many said hostage crisis was happening in a restaurant and it is ongoing and they have big guns, two of them. none of this has turned out to be true. so as you can imagine, a situation like this, notjust word
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of mouth but on social media, things get out and they are not true and they are unconfirmed and it creates more fear in the population and you couple that with the pictures that we re couple that with the pictures that were released and many have seen them. very horrifying images of people on the ground bleeding, some seemed to be unconscious. exactly in the middle of las ramblas, where thousands of people walk by, they know this spot, so that adds to the feeling and the reality that this might be an ongoing situation. it hasn't ended and there's the possibility of something else happening, hence this crowd that just ran across the street a few minutes ago very much panicked, not knowing why they were running but they were running because somebody said something and everybody followed. our correspondent speaking to us from the scene on the edge of las ramblas. in the next edition of outside
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source, we are going to look at the security implications of who could have been behind this. counterterrorism strategy now. tom burridge, who is checking everything out, checking spanish radio for us as we go through, because as i said, there is a lot of talk on spanish media about the one man who has been named, driss oubakir, the man who rented the van that tore down las ramblas. he is in his 20s and was born in morocco. there are reports of previous activities he could have been linked with —— linked with and we will try to flush that out. we will be talking with a security expert as well. —— we will try to expand that. one belgian national is among the dead, according to the country's foreign minister. we also know two people have been arrested, according to the catalan head. we will bring you all the key facts, tell you what we know and what we are still trying to piece together.
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join us for the next edition of outside source injust join us for the next edition of outside source in just a few minutes. good evening. i know some may be travelling to the united states imminently to witness the solar eclipse on sunday. bear in mind there is some poor weather around at there is some poor weather around at the moment, particularly for southern and eastern parts. we had storms brewing through the midwest and the planes heading up towards the great lakes. they are tied into the great lakes. they are tied into the area of low pressure and you tie at him with the warm winds coming up from the gulf of mexico and you will get damaging winds from those storms. —— you tie that in with the warm winds. severe storms following with sharp showers, and then some stronger winds coming into western canada and british columbia, which could exacerbate the spread of the
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wildfires. i'm sure you will have heard about the devastating floods across the sierra leone region. it is the height of the rainy season so we are expecting more heavy rain. the next couple of days afford a bit of respite. it is showers rather than the long persistent rain but nevertheless, the potential for one of those systems to develop off the ethiopian highlands as we head into the weekend and early next week, and that poses the risk of more significant rain. august is the height of the rainy season, as i said, so that is one we will keep an eye on. it has also been very wet in south—east asia. they are in the middle of the monsoon. the rain is easing a bit towards bangladesh and the north—east of india but still feeding into the ganges so we will see some more fairly widespread disruption and flooding, and it is not as if it is dry either. there are heavy showers around but over the next couple of days the heaviest of the rain could be focused around the central and eastern indian
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region, with a monsoon trough pepping up region, with a monsoon trough pepping up the rain, and also the monsoon winds packing up the reins across the western gap, so those are —— those are the two areas where we could see at pushing into western india, where the heaviest rain warnings are out for. —— the monsoon winds increasing the rain. in australia, it is wind causing the issues and that continues to whip up from new south wales down to victoria, southern australia and tasmania, as well as across to new zealand, where rain is piling in. very wet indeed across the western side of the selfies and with heavy snow across the mountains. near galeforce winds and even storm force winds. they continue to be an issue around greece, as you can see. the wildfires continue here and the wind is increasing across portugal. if that weren't enough, the drier and hotter weather continues here for
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the next few days as well. more on uk outlook in half an hour. hello, i'm still at the thomas and you are watching outside source. terror on the streets of barcelona isa van terror on the streets of barcelona is a van ploughed into a crowd in the popular tourist area of las ramblas. the catalan government says at least 30 people are dead. it looked to me as if he was going left to right hitting people at the little stands, all ofa sudden people were screaming and running. catalan police say this is a terror attack. they said two people have been arrested. they have dismissed early reports that two gunmen were holed up in a bar in the city possibly with a hostage.
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