CBS News reports 1 confirmed dead, and 32 injured.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Police in Spain have confirmed they are investigating the van incident in Barcelona as a terror attack, while local media reports say that up to 13 people have been killed.
A van slammed into pedestrians on Thursday in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district, which is normally packed at the height of the summer tourist season.
Catalan police said: “We confirm the terrorist attack. The protocol for terrorist attacks has been activated.”
Media outlets, including Cadena SER radio station and TV3, are reporting up to 13 dead. Other reports had varying death tolls.
An official death toll has not been issued.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A white van jumped the sidewalk Thursday in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district, killing and injuring several people as it plowed into a summer crowd of tourists and residents, police said. The El Pais newspaper said police were treating the crash as a terror attack.
Police cordoned off the broad, popular street, ordering 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.
Quoting unnamed police sources, El Pais said the two perpetrators of the crash were holed up in a bar in Tallers Street. There was no immediate police confirmation of the report.
Catalan police tweeted that “there are mortal victims and injured from the crash” without specifying numbers. The Barcelona-based La Vanguardia newspaper reported at least one dead and 20 injured from the van.
In a photograph on public broadcaster RTVE, three people were lying on the ground in the street of the northern Spanish city Thursday afternoon, apparently being helped by police and others. Other videos showed five people down and recorded people screaming as they fled the scene.
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 but cars can travel on either side.