A man who survived the Manchester bombing attack at an Ariana Grande concert earlier this year found himself caught up in the Barcelona terror attack on Thursday.
Chris Pawley had enjoyed a night out watching American pop star Ariana at the Manchester Arena on 22 May when attacker Salman Ramadan Abedi detonated a homemade bomb filled with shrapnel at one of the exits.
Music fans panicked when they heard the explosion which left 23 adults and children dead, and 250 injured.
Chris and his partner Corey Lorde were in Barcelona this week for the Circuit Festival when 13 people were killed and over 100 injured after a van was driven into locals and tourists on the city’s busy La Rambla street, where people have been paying tribute to those caught up in the horrific event.
In the early hours of Friday morning, further along the Balearic Coast in the town of Cambrils, a car was also driven into a crowd of pedestrians, leaving one dead and six injured.
After the attack in Barcelona, Chris wrote on Twitter: “Can’t believe we are in the same place as another terrorist attack! Hope everyone is ok in Barcelona!”
He added on Facebook: “Just to let everyone know me and Corey are ok, getting a lot of messages.
“It’s crazy here, the shops have put all their shutters down and the army is out but hope everyone is ok who’s been injured.”
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, 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.
“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.”
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