'To be that close to terror is quite shocking'
Sharon Low recounts close call with Barcelona terror attack
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife resident Sharon
Low was departing Barcelona
on a Mediterranean
cruise when terrorists plowed
a truck through tourists and
locals on Las Ramblas Boulevard
on Aug. 17.
Yellowknife resident Sharon Low visited Las Ramblas Boulevard in Barcelona, Spain the day before terrorists plowed a van through tourists and locals on Aug. 17. She was travelling with 11 other Yellowknife residents, departing on a
Mediterranean cruise when she heard news of the attack. - photo courtesy Sharon Low |
"We were stunned," she
told Yellowknifer of the incident
that killed 15 and injured
more than 100. "We are from
Yellowknife. It's so peaceful
and to be that close to terror
is quite shocking.
There was
this need to get ahold of our
families right away and tell
them that we were safe."
Low found out about the
attack while messaging her
daughter from the cruise
ship. She said she looked up
from what she was doing to
see news coverage
of the attack on
one of the ship's televisions.
"I was like, 'What! That's
here, like, now?,'" she said. "A
lady on the cruise was like,
'Yeah, that just happened 20
minutes ago.'"
The day before, Low and
one of her travel companions,
Shiri Macpherson, were
walking along Las Ramblas
Boulevard at around the same
time of day as the attack.
She described the area as
"absolutely full of people,"
and said her mind was on
pickpockets when she was
there.
"We were all extra vigilant,"
she said.
"I don't think any one
of us thought of something
as catastrophic as a terror
attack would happen, but
we were definitely aware of
increased danger because of
the crowds."
Back on the ship, Low
described a subdued mood
among tourists.
She said a friend advised
her to not let the incident
ruin her vacation. While
she agrees with her friend's
advice, she decided to spend
that night alone quietly out
of respect for the victims and
their families.
"My response was: you're
90 per cent right but tonight,
we're going to think about
them then go back to our
vacation and not let those terrorists
affect our lives," she
said.
The Barcelona terrorist
attack took place at the height
of Spain's tourist season.
It left victims lying in the
streets with broken bones
and covered in blood, news
outlets reported. People
were moved inside stores by
police officers brandishing
guns. Many people fled in
panic screaming while carrying
young children.
As of Monday, 15 people
were declared dead, including
one Canadian.
In the nearby coastal town
of Cambrils, another driver
plowed down a woman in
a separate attack that police
have linked to the Barcelona
incident. The Islamic State
group ISIS claimed responsibility
in a statement on its
Aamaq news agency.
