In a tweet, Catalan police confirmed they were dealing with a terrorist attack.
“Terrorist attack confirmed,†they said. “The terrorist attack protocol has been activated.â€
TV3 says it now has “official†confirmation that 13 people are dead. It also says there are dozens of injured.
Eyewitness Lourdes Porcar told TV3 television station that she saw the van running people over. “It was going very fast, without caring about who was in its way,†she said.
Police have set up roadblocks around the city amid reports that a second van was involved in the attack and fled the scene.
There are also reports that at least one attacker is holed up in a Turkish restaurant on Carrer Hospital, which leads off from the spot in which the van appears to have come to a halt.
Television pictures show that a van came to a halt on top of a Joan Miro mosaic, half-way down Las Ramblas - meaning it would have covered more than 500 metres.
Source:theguardian.com