A British-Australian 7-year-old boy was one the 13 people killed in the Barcelona terror attack.
A British-Australian 7-year-old boy who went missing after the terror attack in Barcelona was one of the 13 people killed, his family said Sunday.
Little Julian Cadman was in Las Ramblas, a popular tourist spot in Barcelona, with his mother Jumarie Cadman for a family wedding when a rented white van struck them and at least 100 others Thursday, The Telegraph reported .
“Julian was a much loved and adored member of our family, ” a statement released by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia Sunday on behalf of the boy’s family read. “As he was enjoying the sights of Barcelona with his mother, Julian was sadly taken from us.”
“He was so energetic, funny and cheeky, always bringing a smile to our faces, ” the statement continued. “We are so blessed to have had him in our lives and will remember his smiles and hold his memory dear to our hearts.”
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As the boy’s mother lay on the ground, she kept frantically asking for Julian and begging for answers amid the chaos, Fouad Bakkali, a pharmacist, told the British newspaper.
“Where is my son?” Bakkali recalled Jumarie Cadman asking him.
“I told her, ‚he is good, it will be OK,’ ” the pharmacist said, adding that it appeared both her legs were broken and she had a large head wound. “I helped to keep her breathing until the doctor’s came.”
The Australian mother, who had to undergo surgery for her injuries, was in a coma unaware that Julian had died in the attack, a Spanish government source told the paper.
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It took days to identify the little boy’s body because DNA had to be recovered, the source said.
“I send my sincerest sympathies to the family of Julian Cadman and all those who loved him, ” Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a tweet. “His death is a tragedy.”
Andre Cadman, the boy’s father, traveled to Barcelona from Sydney after learning his son was missing and to care for his injured wife in the wake of the rampage.
Julian, originally from Tunbridge Wells, UK, moved to Australia three years ago and traveled to Barcelona once a year to visit his aunt, according to the paper.
The driver of the van is believed to be on the run, Spanish police said. Five suspects in connection to the attack were killed in a shootout with police. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the carnage.
