Mass panic after tourists simulated chasing a celebrity
'Warning to idiots, faking an attack can be a crime': Mass panic erupts at a Spanish resort as hundreds of holidaymakers flee for their lives when a flash mob is mistaken for an ISIS attack
German tourists simulated chasing a celebrity with selfie sticks
But others mistook items for guns and panicked at foreign shouting
Footage shows hundreds of panicked people running for safety
Five people have now been arrested in the wake of the flashmob
Spanish police have criticised the 'idiots' for the trauma they caused
They warned such an act could carry a three month prison sentence
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Five German women have been arrested after their organised flash mob sparked a terror alert in a Spanish tourist resort when it was mistaken for an ISIS attack.
The group - aged between 20 and 25 - had armed themselves with selfie sticks and tripods as they pretended to chase a celebrity through the Costa Brava resort of Platja d'Aro after organising the get-together on social media.
But locals and other tourists mistook the ill-advised game for a terrorist attack as they heard shouting in a foreign language and confused the selfie sticks for guns.
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Dramatic footage captured hundreds of people running for safety, knocking over tables and chairs in their rush to get away as they abandoned restaurant meals and brought traffic to a stop in the centre of the resort - originally a small fishing village but now a major coastal resort popular mainly with Catalans and northern Europeans.
Some shops even closed and offered refuge to panicked locals during the initial minutes of the scare and several people are said to have been treated for panic attacks.
Police and emergency services coordinators took to Twitter to try to calm nerves and rule out fears of a terror attack after it became apparent the blame lay at the door of a group of German tourists thought to be staying on a nearby campsite.
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The police spokesman added: 'Our information is eight people were treated at a local health centre, two for anxiety attacks and six for bruising and three people were taken to a nearby hospital including one who was suffering tachycardia.
'It's obvious this flash mob got out of hand. Performances of this kind are not advisable with things the way they are at the moment.
Flash mobs are normally organised via social media or viral emails for the purpose of entertainment, satire and artistic expression.
A local town hall source said: 'When someone runs, the rest tend to run as well and it's something that's very difficult to stop.'
Respected regional daily La Vanguardia said: 'More than 200 people, brought together over social media by two German tourists, staged a performance last night in Platja d'Aro.
'It should have been fun. The situation consisted in simulating that a famous person was fleeing from the tabloid press. The supposed paparazzis began to run after their target with selfie sticks, cameras and a lot of shouting.
'The scene caused a stampede in which hundreds of people fled without knowing why, encouraged by the shouts of other people who said shots were being fired in the centre.'
One source said: 'The alarm wasn't real but the fear and the panic caused in a resort packed with tourists who were enjoying an evening stroll through the centre was.'
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