Barcelona: A woman says she survived the Barcelona van attack months after also being caught up in the terrorist rampages in London Bridge and Paris, the Independent reported.
Julia Monaco, 26, was shopping with friends when a van ploughed through nearby crowds killing 14 people and injuring more than 100.
It was her third brush with terror while travelling through Europe this year.
The Melbourne woman was also placed on lockdown on the Tube as three knifemen rampaged in London Bridge and was in Notre Dame the day a police officer was stabbed outside the famous cathedral.
Monaco told of “absolute pandemonium” as she was locked in a shop in Placa de Catalyuna, at the top of Las Ramblas, after terrorists mowed down pedestrians in the busy street on Thursday.
“All of a sudden we were locked in the shop and confusion started to sprinkle among the people,” she told Australian radio station 3AW.
“The next second we knew we were literally running for our lives to the very back of the store where we were told to get on the ground away from the windows and lay as flat as possible.”
She told 9 News: “We didn’t see the van, we could just see the crowds and the police and some people who had clearly seen something terrible happen.
“We were looking at about 200 people crowded out in the square.
“Suddenly everyone outside just started screaming and everyone turned at the same time.
***********************************
Man survive two terror attacks
Chris Pawley, 30, a survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing who was visiting Spain with his partner and was in the area when the attack occurred, told the Manchester Evening News he couldn’t believe he had been caught up in a second terrorism incident in under six months. He had just left the Ariana Grande concert in May when the bomb detonated. Pawley said of Thursday’s attack: “There was police everywhere and ambulances, the shops started putting the shutters down. We have just come back to the hotel, as we were caught up in the arena attack — can’t believe it.”
**************************
Italian father killed in front of kids in Barcelona
A man who was one of two Italians killed in the Barcelona attack died in front of his wife and two young children who narrowly escaped harm when a van ploughed into tourists.
The death of Bruno Gulotta, 35, was announced by his employer, computer company Tom’s Hardware, on Friday.
The Foreign Ministry said two Italian nationals were among the 13 people killed in Thursday’s attack but did not identify them.
“Our friend and colleague Bruno Gulotta was run over and killed by an odious terrorist in the heart of Barcelona,” a statement on the company website read.
Paying tribute to the kindness and generosity of their co-worker, Gulotta’s colleagues said his violent death had left his wife Martina facing “trials no one should have to bear”.
“We put ourselves in the shoes of little Alessandro, who was is about to start elementary school knowing his and his family’s life will never be the same again. And we think of baby Aria ... who will never know her Dad.”
Italian media reported that Bruno had been holding five-year-old Alessandro’s hand just before he was hit by the van. Martina had one-year-old Aria in a baby carrier and managed to pull her son out of the way.
The family, from Legnano, were on holiday in the Catalan city.
*******************
Youngest victims
The youngest victim of the attacks was thought to be a three-year-old girl, Spanish media reported. She died shortly after she was taken to hospital. A six-year-old girl of unknown nationality was taken to hospital with a cerebral haemorrhage, an official at Vall d’Hebron university hospital told the New York Times.
**************************
At least 34 nationalities among Spain attack victims
Victims of a double vehicle attack in Spain that left 14 people dead and around 100 injured were from at least 34 different countries, Spain’s civil protection agency said on Friday.
The agency tweeted that among the dead and injured in Barcelona, a city hugely popular with tourists worldwide, and the seaside resort of Cambrils were nationals from France, Pakistan, Spain, the Netherlands, China, Venezuela, Mauritania, Australia and Britain.
