13 killed In Barcelona Terror Attack

13 killed In Barcelona Terror Attack 

At least 13 people have died and 100 have been injured after a van ploughed into a crowd of people in Las Ramblas area of Barcelona, in an attack that mirrors the spate of recent atrocities by terrorists who used vehicles to ram down civilians across Europe.

Catalan authorities confirmed that 13 people have been killed and 100 people are seriously injured following the attack in the area popular with tourists. 

Police said they arrested two men, a Moroccan and a man from Spain though neither was the driver.

Witnesses said the driver fled on foot. It was still not clear how many attackers had been involved.

A Belgian national is among the dead, said Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders. 

Hours beforehand, one person was killed in an explosion in a house in a town southwest of Barcelona, in an incident linked to the attack.

As the manhunt continued into the night, police said several attackers were killed in a shootout during an operation against what they called a possible “terror attack” in Cambrils.

Another man has been killed in a shootout with police on the outskirts of the city but it is unconfirmed whether he is one of the suspects. 

Earlier in Barcelona, witnesses said the white van zigzagged at high speed ramming pedestrians and cyclists, sending some hurtling through the air and leaving bodies strewn in its wake.

Spanish police say they have killed four people in Cambrils to stop what they say was a second attempted attack after an earlier one in Barcelona.

Police warned people to stay off the streets, with shots reported in the port of Cambrils.

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said it was a “jihadist attack”.

Spanish media reported that the Cambrils attackers struck several people with a van early on Friday morning, leaving them injured, in what appeared to be an attempt to replicate the Barcelona attack.