Türkİye, Europe

Turkish national among Barcelona injured

Emre Eroglu, 33, sustained 2 broken legs in van attack in central Barcelona

18.08.2017 - Update : 19.08.2017
Turkish national among Barcelona injured BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 17: People run away from the area after a van plowed into the crowd, injuring several people in Barcelona, Spain on August 17, 2017. ( Albert Llop - Anadolu Agency )

By Senhan Bolelli

MADRID

A 33-year-old Turkish national was among those wounded in Thursday’s terrorist attack in central Barcelona, Turkey's embassy in Madrid confirmed on Friday.

Emre Eroglu, a Turkish man in Spain on business, suffered two broken legs when a white van was driven through crowds of pedestrians in what the authorities are calling a terrorist attack.

However, Eroglu’s injuries are not thought to be life threatening, the Turkish embassy told Anadolu Agency.

At least 14 people were killed and more than a hundred injured in the attack in Barcelona. 

The driver of the vehicle is still on the run, but police have made three arrests in connection with the attack.

Spanish police also shot and killed five suspected terrorists in a later operation in Cambrils town, close to Barcelona, after a vehicle was driven into a crowd.

One woman was killed and six people, including police, were injured when the vehicle drove into them in the early hours of Friday morning.

Catalonia’s regional leader, Charles Puigdemont, later told local media explosive belts the dead terrorists had been wearing turned out to be fakes.

Local emergency services say 34 different nationalities are among those killed or injured.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to Spain’s King Felipe on Thursday following the attacks which he said “showed the brutal face of terrorism once again”.

A minute’s silence was held in Barcelona earlier on Friday, attended by Spain’s Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. 

Security across several Spanish cities has been tightened.

According to local media, police are searching for a man named Moussa Oukabir, believed to be the brother of Driss Oukabir one of the attack suspects arrested in Ripoll, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Barcelona.

Reporting by Seyhan Bolelli; Writing by Ilker Girit

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