Otago man caught up in Barcelona attack

Police investigate the scene of the attack. Photo: Getty Images
Police investigate the scene of the attack. Photo: Getty Images

An Otago man said he was barricaded in a Barcelona shop for hours after a deadly "terror" attack in the Spanish city.

Eion Willis. Photo: ODT
Eion Willis. Photo: ODT
New Zealanders have described the panic and chaos after a van was driven down Las Ramblas, a popular tourist avenue.

Police say at least 12 people have been killed and more than 80 wounded on Thursday (local time) in the attack in which a white van swerved from side to side as it ploughed into tourists and residents on the street.

Two people have been arrested and Islamic State have claimed responsibility.

Eion Willis from Otago told Newstalk ZB this morning he was barricaded in a shop behind grilled bars for hours as pandemonium broke out around him.

Mr Willis, who was holidaying in Barcelona with his wife and friends, was just 100m from the attack when he was suddenly bustled into a shop.

“We were down an alleyway and then all of a sudden a lot of guys came running and they were chased by other guys.

"We automatically thought they were pick-pockets and they were being chased but in actual fact there was an actual terror [attack] up in the streets and people were running around in pandemonium trying to find different places to hide."

He said the labyrinth of narrow streets around Las Ramblas immediately went into lockdown.

“All the shops just shut down straight away and anyone in the shops had to stay in the shops and down came the cages. You couldn’t go anywhere.”

Mr Willis said he was caught on the periphery of the carnage, just 10m from the street leading to their motel, but had a four-hour wait to get back to his accommodation.

He said he was not with his wife at the time of the attack who was waiting back at their motel.

“We’d left our phones in our rooms.  We had to borrow a phone to tell them we were okay four hours later.”

The area remained in lockdown with hundreds of police patrolling the streets.

Mr Willis said the attack had taken an obvious toll on the community with everyone on knife-edge and children crying in fear.

'It's gone crazy over here'

Another Kiwi, Peter Marriott described the terrifying moments he was caught in his car just a block from where the attack happened.

Mr Marriott was driving on a road parallel to Las Ramblas when "all hell broke loose". He said people poured out of the popular tourist precinct in what he described as "sheer chaos".

"It's just gone crazy over here. It's absolute chaos. I didn't expect this here."

Mr Marriott was about 700m from the site of the attack. He didn't witness it, but said it was too close for comfort.

Police evacuate people from a shop at the popular tourist avenue. Photo: Getty Images
Police evacuate people from a shop at the popular tourist avenue. Photo: Getty Images

Police quickly swarmed into the area and the air above his home was reverberating as helicopters hovered overhead hunting for those responsible.

He said the ordeal had left him shaken to the core. "It's pretty rough, to be honest."

Mr Marriott said he was concerned for friends who had gone into the area at the time of the attack but whom he could not reach.

Las Ramblas, a street of stalls and shops that cuts through the centre of Barcelona, is one of the city's top tourist destinations.

 

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