British tourist caught up in Barcelona terror attack with his family reveals panic as police shouted to hide because there was a gunman on the loose

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British tourists caught up in terror attacks in Spain have revealed the chaotic scenes as jihadists murdered 13 people and injured more than 100.

Holidaymakers were first targeted in a van attack in Barcelona on Thursday afternoon before five men were shot dead by police attempting a similar attack in Cambrils. 

Thomas Riley, 22, was just 300 feet from Barcelona's Las Ramblas with his father Jonathan, 54, and 19-year-old brother Charles when he heard 'shouting and crying'.

The trio were directed back into the metro stop and locked in by police, before being ordered to take the first train, which had pulled up empty.

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Thomas Riley (pictured right while on holiday in Barcelona) had just left Catalunya station with his father, Jonathan, and brother, Charles, when he heard 'shouting and crying'

Thirteen people are believed to have been killed and dozens injured after a van in Barcelona ploughed into pedestrians and two men entered a restaurant with guns

Horrifying images of the aftermath show an elderly couple were among the injured after the van ploughed into pedestrians on the busy Barcelona street

Moussa Oukabir, 18, who lives in Barcelona, has been named as a suspect in the Las Ramblas attack after reportedly stealing his brother's documents 

Mr Riley told MailOnline he stepped out of the station just after a van had gone past in an attack that killed at least 13 people and injured dozens more. 

He said: 'There was lots of commotion, shouting, and people crying. I was very frightened because no one would speak English to me.

'The emergency services and officials acted very swiftly and we were directed back down onto the metro station and locked there for a while. 

'I still had no idea what had happened by this point. An empty train arrived at a platform and we were all told to get on it quickly.

'Once the station was empty, we were taken out of the area a few stops picking people up en route.'

Mr Riley said the terrified passengers were directed by police to the seafront, where they were asked to 'hide' due to reports of gunmen on the loose.

Mr Riley said the terrified passengers were directed by police to the seafront, where they were asked to 'hide' due to reports of gunmen on the loose 

He said: 'Lots of people on the tube were in tears. Once I got above ground, the streets were cut off by police everywhere.

'There was lots of confusion and people checking phones. The police told us to stay calm and hide due to reports of gunmen.

'Eventually, we were directed to the sea front by officials and I was asked if I had information by the police.'

Fitzroy Davies, from Wolverhampton, was caught up in the second attack in Cambrils and described how police shot dead one of the attackers.

He told the BBC he was in Spain for a judo camp and was in a meeting with the coaches when the incident unfolded.

'These girls ran into the bar off the street and then people were running up the road.

'One of our guys stood up, looked and just said 'run', so we all ran.

'This guy came running up the road and was shouting something.

'I didn't know what it was, so we said call the police.

'Within 30 seconds the police was already there, jumped out of the car, started shouting at the guy, the guy was then saying something else again.

'And then they 'pop, pop', did a couple of shots and he fell down.

'He stood back up and then he stepped over the fence and he started, he was taunting, smiling and he carried on walking to the police, and then they gave it to him again, a couple more shots and then he fell to the ground.'

Shocking video footage shows bodies strewn across the ground in the seaside town and police have confirmed they had 'shot the perpetrators'. The people on the ground are believed to be the terrorists 

Five terror suspects have been killed in the early hours of this morning after police in Cambrils responded to the latest terror attack in Spain

MANCHESTER ATTACK SURVIVOR CAUGHT UP IN CHAOS

Chris Pawley, 30, has narrowly escaped death for a second time after being caught up in the Barcelona terrorist attack

A survivor of the Manchester Arena bomb has described the horror of being caught up in this evening's terror attack in Barcelona.

Chris Pawley, who lives in Manchester city centre, was just yards away from tourist hub Las Ramblas when a van ploughed into pedestrians.

He reached the area just after the attack took place, which is now believed to have killed 13 people and left dozens injured.

Chris, 30, was enjoying a trip to the Spanish city with partner Corey Lorde for a festival when the terrorist struck on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking from Barcelona, he said: 'We were in the area after the incident. We have just come back to the hotel, as we were caught up in the arena attack – can't believe it.'

Chris added: 'There was police everywhere and ambulances, the shops started putting the shutters down.

'The first we knew about it was through our phones on Sky News, as I get their notifications on my phone.

'We then saw all of the reporters with the cameras and could just see the rows of emergency services.'

Chris, who immediately left the area, said tourists are being advised by hotels to stay in their rooms.

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Susan Maclean, who is on holiday in Barcelona with her husband, said she was 'very lucky' to have avoided the van as it ploughed through the crowds.

The Foreign Office has issued guidance to Britons currently visiting the Spanish city to 'take care' and follow the advice of authorities. 

Tourists were urged to 'stay inside' and keep away from Las Ramblas and surrounding areas following the terror attack.

British officials also advised tourists caught up in an attack to switch their phones to silent and avoid putting their location on social media.  

Several other British tourists were caught up in the attack. 

She told Channel 4 News: 'All of a sudden, there was this screaming and hordes of people, like a tidal wave of people, fear etched in their faces, running towards us, many of them yelling in Spanish.

'We had no idea what was going on. My first thought was this is a terrorist attack.'

She said she felt 'unbridled fear' during the incident where she was barricaded into a nearby shop for safety.

This image shows the scene outside Catalunya station, 300 feet from Las Ramblas, where police told the Riley family to return to the metro 

Ms Maclean said: 'It was very difficult to know what was going on.

'People were shouting. We could hear the word 'shooting, shooting'. We weren't really sure whether that was shooting as in the English or a Spanish word so it was just unbridled fear.'

Steve Garrett was in a nearby market and sheltered in a bakery with several others after streams of people ran inside.

One member of the group, who took refuge with him, said she had heard gunshots after the incident. 

Mr Garrett told the BBC: 'A very large number of people ran into the market area in a big kind of way, lots of screaming, lots of shouting.

'The security guards immediately responded. We ran into the bakery with four or five other people and ran straight upstairs and hunkered down whilst an enormous wave of people went through the market.

'Obviously coming from England it was reminding me a great deal of what happened in London, so we were very concerned about what might be going on next.

'The lady that was with us said she heard some gunshots.'

Flights from Britain into Barcelona are currently landing at Barcelona Airport, as are planes flying into the UK from the Catalan city

Mr Garrett said a 'second wave' of people then entered the market, followed by armed police.

He said: 'They seemed to sweep through the market area. They seemed to be looking for someone. They were going very carefully, very cautiously, stall to stall.'

Will Ako, 26, from London, was eating in a restaurant called Taller De Tapas with his family when they heard a disturbance.

He said: 'We had just finished eating and were about to leave when we heard a commotion and the patrons in the restaurant rushing from their seats.

'I then saw people running to the east of the restaurant and I saw a couple of people about 30 yards down the road crouching around what looked like someone on the ground and they were calling for assistance.

'Within a couple of minutes, police started to arrive and they were running west of the restaurant and some were telling us to stay inside.

'Soon after, loads of cars, bikes and ambulances arrived and then the armed police.' 

Mr Ako said he was in the restaurant with around 40 people, adding: 'We're not sure what's happening.'

Tom Gueller, who lives on an adjoining road, was forced to flee the scene when he saw the van hurtling through the crowds.

He told BBC's PM: 'I heard screams and a bit of a crash and then I just saw the crowd parting and this van going full pelt down the middle of the Ramblas and I immediately knew that it was a terrorist attack or something like that. 

British tourists have been urged to 'stay inside' after keep away from the centre of Barcelona following the terror attack

'I ran away, I mean I live near, I had to run back about 50 metres or so and go up to my flat and obviously see what's happening on the road from my balcony.'

Asked about the van, he said: 'It wasn't slowing down at all. It was just going straight through the middle of the crowds in the middle of the Ramblas.' 

Mr Gueller said many of the shops had pulled their shutters down and armed police were positioned on street corners, with cordons in place on the road. 

Tourist Mel Higgins told Sky News she was barricaded into a shop with her daughters at the time of the incident.

She said: 'I was with my two daughters and we were walking down the Passeig de Gracia, which is sort of parallel and one up from Las Ramblas, when suddenly people just started running towards us, screaming and shouting: 'Run! Run! Run!'. 

'So I grabbed the two girls and there was an Orange phone shop was open and we ran inside and they locked the doors of the phone shop, and we just all waited there for I suppose about 20 minutes. 

'And then it seemed very calm out on the street. And obviously the people working in Orange were in touch with the police and the police said just stay there for now.

'Then about 20 minutes later, they said we could leave and we were just about to leave when people started running again, and screaming, and they said: 'Everyone back in!'.' 

Drama teacher Richard Gregg, 46, was heading back to his hotel near Las Ramblas when the attack happened. 

He said: 'We were coming back to our apartment and as we got close an American tourist was running and saying there was blood everywhere.

'People didn't really know what was going on and the crowds were running in all sorts of directions.

'If it had happened two minutes later, we would have been standing where the van has stopped as that is at the junction to our road.'

Mr Gregg, from Dartford, Kent, and teaches drama at a school in London, said: 'The police were flooding the side roads on motorbikes, looking for someone.

'It was very chaotic to begin with, but they acted very quickly.'

Pictured: A man lying on the street in Barcelona after the van ploughed into pedestrians along Las Ramblas 

Flights from Britain into Barcelona are currently landing at Barcelona Airport, as are planes flying into the UK from the Catalan city. 

Following the attack, security staff at Barcelona airport suspended a strike that started in early August. 

'Our work is now more necessary than ever,' a spokesman said. 

Easyjet said its service was 'operating as usual', but travellers should check the status of their flight before departing.

A statement read: 'Our schedule is operating as normal, however we would advise that all travellers due to travel with us to or from Barcelona today check the status of their flight on our Flight Tracker page.' 

Several hotels in the city are providing free rooms to people affected by the attack. 

The Twentytu Hotel said it had already given beds to six people and has six more places to spare.

A spokesman told MailOnline: 'All our rooms are open to people affected. Lots of people are staying near Las Ramblas and are unable to get into their hotels. 

'We wanted to help these people. We are offering free pizzas as well.'   

The Foreign Office has issued guidance to Britons currently visiting the Spanish city to 'take care' and follow the advice of authorities 

British politicians have voiced their solidarity with those affected by the terror attack on Twitter.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the Foreign Office is examining whether any British nationals were harmed in the attack. 

She said: 'I am sickened by the senseless loss of life in Barcelona today.

'The Foreign Office is working to establish if any British nationals were involved in this appalling incident and we are in close contact with the authorities in Spain, who have our full support.

'Following the attacks in Manchester and London, Spain stood alongside the British people. Tonight, Britain stands with Spain against the evil of terrorism.'

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: 'My thoughts are with the victims of this barbaric terrorist attack in the great city of Barcelona and with their brave emergency services.'

Mr Khan added: 'London stands with Barcelona against the evil of terrorism.'

More than 12 million British nationals visit Spain every year, with the majority of those travelling during the summer holidays.

• The emergency number for UK citizens in Barcelona is +34 93 366 6200. If in the UK and worried about a national, you can call 020 7008 1500