Barcelona terror attack: 13 dead, several injured as van plows into crowd in Las Ramblas avenue

At least thirteen people have been confirmed killed and several others injured after a van plowed into a crowd in the heart of Barcelona on Thursday. Police said they are treating the incident as a terrorist attack. (Source: AP Photo)

A police spokesman said he could not confirm any deaths or that the incident was being treated as terrorism. Soon afterwards, Spain’s El Periodico newspaper reported that two armed men were holed up in a bar in Barcelona’s city centre, and reported gunfire in the area, although it did not cite the source of the information. (Source: AP Photo)

It was not immediately clear whether the incidents were connected. (Source: AP Photo)

Following the van crash, emergency services said people should not go to the area around Barcelona’s Placa Catalunya, one of the city’s main squares at the top of the famous Las Ramblas avenue, and requested the closure of nearby train and metro stations. (Source: AP Photo)

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he was in contact with authorities, and the priority was to attend to the injured. (Source: AP Photo)

The incident took place at the height of the tourist season in Barcelona, which is one of Europe’s top travel destinations with at least 11 million visitors a year. (Source: AP Photo)

While full details of the van incident were not immediately clear, vehicles have been used to ram into crowds in a series of militant attacks across Europe since July 2016, killing well over 100 people in Nice, Berlin, London and Stockholm. (Source: AP Photo)