MADRID, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and some 20 others injured after a van rammed into crowd in the Spanish city of Barcelona, local media reported Thursday.
The Catalan regional police force Mossos d'Esquadra informed of the incident, which took place in the tourist area of the Ramblas, close to Plaza de Catalunya in the heart of the city at around 17:00 local time.
They reported in a tweet that a man aged in his mid 20s drove a white van into a crowd of people, "causing several injuries", while witnesses described the van drove into the crowd at around 80 kilometers an hour.
Large numbers of police and emergency services are now at the scene, which has been cordoned off, while early reports say the driver of the van is still at large after abandoning it and running away, with Spanish media reporting that he was thought to be armed.
Police have confirmed the crash a terrorist incident. They also asked people to avoid the zone in order to "not obstruct the work of emergency services".
Latest reports say that the suspect and another person are barricaded in a nearby restaurant, Restaurant Istanbul, and they have taken hostages.
The Catalan regional government, Generalitat, closed nearby metro and railway stations, while people in the area of the attack have been asked to stay where they are until the police can indicate an exit route.
Over 230 suspected jihadist terrorists have been arrested in Spain since the start of 2015.
