'Several dead' after van ploughs into Barcelona crowd

(ANSA) - Rome, August 17 - A white van ploughed into crowds on Barcelona's famed Rambla street Thursday, killing "several" people and injuring dozens more people, La Vanguardia reported.
    La Vanguardia also cited police as saying it was a terrorist attack. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, police said.
    The driver and another armed man were holed up in a store, La Vanguardia said.
    The Catalan government ordered the closure of the local metro station, Plaza Catalunya, and shopkeepers were told to keep their shops closed. A young Italian woman, Chiara, told ANSA: "I was in a shop, the other four people with me were behind the van which headed for people in the pedestrian zone. The crowd was running". After taking shelter in a shop, Chiara said "they're not letting us out, we can hear the police out there but we can't see anything from here. They're taking us to the bottom floor of the shop".
    Another Italian, Luca Terraciano, said "I saw at least three or four people on the ground, a policeman holding a person and everyone running, screaming, crying".