BARCELONA:At least 13 people were killed and over 50 injured on Thursday when a driver ploughed a van into pedestrians on a busy street in Barcelona popular with tourists, the region’s interior minister said.

“We can confirm there are 13 dead and more than 50 injured,” Joaquim Forn tweeted.

Around 5pm (1500 GMT), a vehicle slammed into a crowd of pedestrians on the famous Las Ramblas boulevard.

The promenade in the heart of the city centre is one of the city’s busiest streets, normally thronged with tourists and street performers until well into the night.

Witnesses described scenes of chaos and panic as they tried to flee.

Police in the Spanish region of Catalonia where Barcelona is located said on Twitter they have arrested one man and are treating the incident as a “terrorist attack”.