GLASGOW University rector Aamer Anwar was forced to flee the terrorist incident in Barcelona along with a "sea of people, screaming".
Mr Anwar, in the city for a rectors' conference, had passed the spot of impact just ten seconds before the van ploughed into the Las Ramblas crowd.
He was looking for a Barcelona strip for his nine-year-old son Qais who had begged his father to come along but had been refused.
Can't believe this I'm on Ramblas, heard screaming & whole street ran- a car believed drove in2crowd- had walked down 10secs earlier pic.twitter.com/LPGBCYupfv
— Aamer Anwar (@AamerAnwar) August 17, 2017
Glasgow human rights lawyer Mr Anwar said: "I sat down to get something to eat in the shade and decided to walk down further the next thing, seconds later, I heard a crashing noise and heard screaming, everybody started to run so I started to run.
"People were running in every directions into shops, families were screaming they were picking their kids up from prams and running.
"Within seconds police officers were out. Guns were out. Ambulances, fire engines.
READ MORE: 13 feared dead as van driver brings terror to Barcelona’s Las Ramblas
"People were just in shock.
"It was mobbed with families, and children, and old people and young people.
"The thought that keeps coming back to me is my son saying 'I want to go, I want to go'.
After the crash he "turned round to see this sea of people, this avalanche screaming.
"I just ran with other people and then after about another 10 seconds I just thought 'where am I running'.
"I spoke to a Bengali man who was running behind me and he said a van had crashed into a crowd.
"He said about five or six people were seriously hurt.
"At that point police officers came with guns.
"The woman next to me was hysterical for her kids."
Mr Anwar continued: "It was scary.
"They had police motor bikes driving down the pedestrianised bits trying to get the people away "It started to come out that two of them were holed up in a bar.
"There were two types of people, those you can tell were in shock because they saw it, were at the scene and those who don't know what is going on.
"There were no bollards but there's normally motorbikes and cars parked out at that point."
Total panic - we are all getting pushed back- la Ramblas pic.twitter.com/1MwYLfFZJc
— Aamer Anwar (@AamerAnwar) August 17, 2017
He said he would carry out the university engagement.
He said: "I was invited by the Catalonian University to come as rector (of Glasgow University) to speak to a conference they have once a year.
"I'm speaking this weekend about human rights.
"I came a day earlier just sight-seeing and chilling out."
READ MORE: 13 feared dead as van driver brings terror to Barcelona’s Las Ramblas
Mr Anwar first posted video footage on Twitter at 4.12pm, stating: "Can't believe this I'm on Ramblas, heard screaming & whole street ran- a car believed drove in2crowd- had walked down 10secs earlier."
He posted a second video seven minutes later showing a large crowd of onlookers being directed away from the scene by officials, tweeting: "Total panic - we are all getting pushed back."
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