A van ploughed into crowds in Barcelona on Thursday and Spanish media reported at least 13 people were killed and 100 were injured, 15 of them seriously, in what authorities called a terror attack.
The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, the group's Amaq news agency said.
"The perpetrators of the Barcelona attack are soldiers of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting coalition states," the agency said, referring to a United States-led coalition.
The Catalan regional interior minister confirmed that 13 people had been killed in the attack, with dozens still injured and in the hospital.
Earlier, a Barcelona city counsellor had confirmed that one person had died and that of the 32 people injured and taken to the hospital, 10 were seriously hurt in the attack. Local media has also reported that at least 56 people have been taken to the hospital.
La meva més rotunda condemna a l'atemptat terrorista de Barcelona. Podem confirmar 13 morts i més de 50 ferits. @mossos @solercampins pic.twitter.com/va0IlQejb0
— Joaquim Forn (@quimforn) 17 Ağustos 2017
The death toll in the van attack is likely to rise as some people have been injured very seriously, Catalan Home Affairs Minister Joaquim Forn Chiariello said earlier in the day, as quoted by El Pais newspaper.
"IT WASN'T SLOWING DOWN AT ALL"
The vehicle sped along the pedestrianised area, mowing down people and sending others fleeing for cover in shops and cafes. Witnesses said the van deliberately targeted people before stopping. Witnesses described scenes of chaos and panic, with bodies strewn along the boulevard as others fled for their lives.
Tom Gueller, who lives on a road next to Las Ramblas said he saw the van speeding along the boulevard. "It wasn't slowing down at all. It was just going straight through the middle of the crowds in the middle of the Ramblas," he told BBC radio, referring to the pedestrianised area.
Spanish newspaper El Periodico said two armed men were holed up in a bar in Barcelona's city centre, and reported gunfire in the area, though it did not cite the source of the information.
It was not immediately clear whether the incidents were connected. Media reports said the van had zigzagged at speed down the famous Las Ramblas avenue, a magnet for tourists. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he was in contact with authorities, and the priority was to attend to the injured.
VAN DRIVER ESCAPED ON FOOT
Senior police official Josep Lluis Trapero said the attack van drove on to the pavement, swerving among pedestrians in a crowded area, and was “clearly a terror attack intended to kill as many people as possible”.
He said the van driver made off on foot and was not believed to be armed. Two suspects are in custody but neither are the van driver, Catalan authorities said.
Authorities in Vic, a small town outside Barcelona, said a van had been found there in connection with the attack. Spanish media had earlier reported that a second van had been hired as a getaway vehicle.
Catalonia's regional president Carles Puigdemont said police have arrested two people after van attack. One of the suspected attackers has been killed in a shootout with police on the outskirts of the city, La Vanguardia newspaper reported. Police earlier confirmed they had arrested a man in connection with the attack. The president of Spain's Catalonia region says police have arrested two people in the van attack in Barcelona's bustling Las Ramblas district.
DRIVER RAN OVER TWO POLICE AT BARCELONA CHECKPOINT
A driver ran over two police officers at a checkpoint in Barcelona following a van attack in the city centre, Catalan police said on Twitter. Spanish media had earlier reported that at least one policeman was injured at the checkpoint.
It was not immediately clear whether the incident was linked to the van attack in the city centre.
DRISS OUKABIR CAME TO POLICE REPORTING THEFT OF DOCUMENTS
Local media said police were hunting a suspect named Driss Oukabir, after the passport of a Spanish citizen, of Moroccan origin, was found at the scene. Later it was reported that Oukabir has denied being involved in the attack and told police his documents had been stolen.
According to Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, Oukabir said that his documents had been stolen as he arrived at the police station in the town of Ripoll where he resided. Earlier in the day, the police reportedly distributed Oukabir's image stating he was the suspected terror attack perpetrator. The distributed image does not correspond with the actual appearance of the suspected attacker detained by the authorities, the newspaper suggested.
