A French holidaymaker injured in the terrorist attack in Barcelona last month is searching for an unknown Israeli man who he says saved his young son's life.

The tourist, identified only by his first name Renaud, gave an eye-witness account of the atrocity on Las Ramblas to the French television programme Sept à Huit. He described how his young son was thrown from his arms as a terrorist mowed a van through pedestrians, killing 16 people and injuring at least 120.

Renaud was among those wounded, but described how a stranger leapt to protect his son as the van continued to career through the crowds.

"An Israeli did not hesitate to jump and save my children, to recover them, while the terrorist was still in the car," Renaud said, according to the Ynetnews website. "I would like to find my children's saviour."

Renaud, who was interviewed from his hospital bed where he is recovering from multiple bone fractures, continued: "I saw people get hit by the vehicle. I had my son in my arms, I just had time to do a quarter turn to try to absorb the shock.

"I was hit hard by the truck. It was very fast, impossible to react. I no longer had my son in my arms, I fell to the left of the vehicle, which stopped a few meters after hitting us."

It is not known how Renaud was able to identify the man as an Israeli, nor where the unknown saviour went in the aftermath of the attack. Renaud's wife and two children, who were on holiday with him in Spain, were unharmed.