Flowers Laid In Memory Of Barcelona Van Attack Victims

Barcelona, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Aug, 2018 ) :Flowers were laid Thursday for the victims of a jihadist van attack on Barcelona's Las Ramblas boulevard and a later stabbing in which 15 people were killed a year ago.

"We wanted to come of course in memory of my father but also to remember all victims of this terrible event," said Fiona Wilson, a Canadian whose father was killed when the van was driven into crowds of people on Las Ramblas on August 17, 2017.

"But we are also here because we want to send a very clear message that we are not afraid. The terrorists wanted to send a message of hate and destruction and they failed. We are not afraid," she added.

Younes Abouyaaqoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan, ran over and killed 14 people on Las Ramblas and wounded over 100 others. During his escape he stabbed to death a 34-year-old man who was parking his car and stole the vehicle.

A few hours later five of his companions stabbed to death a woman and injured six others in the seaside resort of Cambrils, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of Barcelona.

"The attacks is still very recent and the victims are still in a lot of pain.... What is hardest to cure is the psychological aspect," said Jose Vargas, the president of the Catalan Association of Victims of Terrorism who organised the act.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Spain's Spain's King Felipe VI are scheduled to attend an official ceremony in honour of the victims on Friday in Barcelona which will also include regional and local officials.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, Spain's worst since the Madrid train bombings of March 2004, in which 191 people died and more than 1,800 were injured.