• 2 suspects arrested

At least 13 people were confirmed dead yesterday after a van mowed down pedestrians in Barcelona city center and 80 people were injured, Catalan police and the regional interior ministry said.

As at press time, two suspects have been arrested according to CNN. The van plowed into crowds in the heart of the city and Spanish police said they were treating the incident as a terrorist attack. The death toll was reported by news agencies, citing police sources. At press time, police said they said were searching for the driver of the van. Media reports said the driver of the vehicle had fled on foot.

Spanish newspaper El Periodico said two armed men were holed up in a bar in Barcelona’s city center, and reported gunfire in the area, although it did not cite the source of the information.

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It was not immediately clear whether the incidents were connected.

A source familiar with the initial United States government assessment said the incident appeared to be terrorism, and a White House spokeswoman said President Donald Trump was being kept abreast of the situation.

Media reports said the van had zigzagged at speed down the famous Las Ramblas avenue, a magnet for tourists. “I heard screams and a bit of a crash and then I just saw the crowd parting and this van going full pelt down the middle of the Ramblas and I immediately knew that it was a terrorist attack or something like that,” eyewitness Tom Gueller told the BBC.