NewsNational

Actions

South Florida family recalls chaos in Barcelona attack

Posted at 9:44 PM, Aug 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-18 04:27:31-04

Chaos.

That is how a South Florida man described the scene when a van crashed into a crowd of people in Barcelona.

He and his family were among the thousands nearby running for their lives in the Las Ramblas district.

Justin Ritkes of Weston, Fla., in Broward County says he was on vacation with his family when the van plowed into he crowd.

"You just never think it's going to be real until it happens," said Ritkes.

He says his family was feet away when a white van jumped the sidewalk plowing into the crowd.

Ritkes say his family hid in a nearby restaurant.

"Just to be there in something like that, it's just surreal," said Ritkes.

Roberta Jorda is a former Jupiter resident. She now lives blocks away from the Las Ramblas district.

"We could have been there in that place at that time," said Jorda.

She says there were cops everywhere.

"The officers were blocking the streets and they didn't allow people crossing there, telling everybody to go to their homes," said Jorda.

For now, it's a much calmer scene, but still hard to shake the terror they saw.