BARCELONA: A Barcelona broadcaster is reporting that a man thought to be the driver of a van that drove into pedestrians is held up in a bar that is surrounded by police.

Barcelona’s Tv3: also reported Thursday that the Spanish passport of a person of Moroccan origin was found at the scene of the attack that police say has left at least one person dead.

The television station says police have surrounded a bar called Rey de Istanbul.

Thirteen people have been killed and more than fifty injured after a suspected terrorist crashed  into a crowd of people on a pavement in a popular tourist area of Barcelona.  Officers in Spain´s second-largest city said the ramming on Las Ramblas was a "terrorist attack" and a police source said one suspect had left the scene and was "holed up in a bar". A local security source told AFP that at least two people had died in the van attack and around 20 were wounded. The police source said they were hunting for a total of two suspects. The famous Las Ramblas boulevard is one of Barcelona´s busiest streets, normally thronged with tourists and street performers until well into the night. "Huge collision on Las Ramblas in Barcelona by an individual driving a van, many injuries," a police statement said. (thenews.com.pk)

People were heard shouting, “Evacuate the square, terror attack!” as distressed pedestrians sought refuge in the Virreina Palace next to where the crash took place. Train and metro stations in the Ramblas area were immediately shut. Police warned that the van driver was armed, and half an hour after the massacre on the Ramblas, a shoot-out was heard in the nearby Boquería Market. At 18.15, police confirmed a gunman had barricaded himself into the bar Luna de Istambul at the top of the Ramblas, and reports at 18.48 claimed officers had entered the premises and were negotiating with the kidnapper, who is since reported to have been arrested. (thinkspain.com)

Police also announced they were looking for a second van, which was later located in the town of Vic. Global news agencies confirm the death toll now sits at 13, of whom at least four were killed by the runaway van. But the Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalunya's military police, are playing it more cautiously and are only confirming two deaths and 32 injured. Many of the injured are in a critical condition, and hospitals across Barcelona have sent out an appeal for emergency blood donors. As yet, it is not clear how many terrorists are involved, since reports differ as to whether two or more are acting. Police say the van driver is wearing a white shirt with blue stripes and is around 1.7m (5'7”) tall. They confirm it is a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed 'Islamic State', or DAESH, has 'celebrated' the attack on social media and claimed authorship of it, citing the expulsion of the Moors in the 15 century from what they continue to call al-Andalus as their motive. Some reports claim the CIA warned Spain two months ago that the Ramblas could become the focus of an imminent attack. (thinkspain.com)

Police say the van driver is wearing a white shirt with blue stripes and is around 1.7m (5'7”) tall. They confirm it is a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed 'Islamic State', or DAESH, has 'celebrated' the attack on social media and claimed authorship of it, citing the expulsion of the Moors in the 15 century from what they continue to call al-Andalus as their motive. Some reports claim the CIA warned Spain two months ago that the Ramblas could become the focus of an imminent attack. (thinkspain.com)

Video courtesy: Nadia Aleem Ud Din