Catalan police confirmed that 15 people were injured after a car accelerated into a crowd which had gathered outside Espanyol's stadium for Thursday night's league meeting with Barcelona.
There were more than 34,000 people at the RCDE Stadium for the midweek Catalan derby. Barcelona nervily edged out a 2–0 victory which confirmed their status as La Liga champions, but there was a risk of the fixture getting postponed after reports of injuries to multiple fans began to filter through to those in the ground.
"A person driving a vehicle on an open road was surrounded by fans heading to the stadium and, for some reason that is still unclear, accelerated to leave the scene," Eduard Sallent, commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and head of the Metropolitan Police Region South, told assembled media, as quoted by .
Sallent revealed that the driver "was not traveling at an excessive speed," but rather that the car "was stopped, tried to exit, and, in the exit maneuver, hit the people in front of it".
Shortly after the incident—which occurred approximately two minutes after kick-off at 9 p.m local time—the Catalan Health Department revealed on that 13 people had been affected. Four were "in less serious condition" and taken to hospital while three were admitted to Sant Joan de Déu children's hospital in "mild condition".
