source: AFP

BARCELONA: Two people were killed after a van crashed into pedestrians near the Las Ramblas avenue in central Barcelona on Thursday, several local newspapers reported, though a police spokesman said he could not confirm the deaths.

However, police have only confirmed injuries. 

Police described the incident on Twitter as a "massive crash".

Emergency services said people should not go to the area around the city´s Placa Catalunya, and requested the closure of nearby train and metro stations.

El Pais newspaper said the driver of the vehicle had fled on foot after mowing down dozens of people.

According to local media reports, two armed men entered a restaurant after the van ploughed into the crowd in Las Ramblas, Barcelona.

While full details of the incident were not immediately clear, since July 2016 vehicles have been used to ram into crowds in a series of militant attacks across Europe, killing well over 100 people in Nice, Berlin, London and Stockholm.

In recent weeks, threatening graffiti against tourists has appeared in Barcelona, which draws at least 11 million visitors a year.

In one video released under the slogan "tourism kills neighbourhoods", several hooded individuals stopped a tourist bus in Barcelona, slashed the tyres and spray-painted the windscreen.