At least 14 people have been killed and over 110 injured in two separate attacks in the Spanish city of Barcelona and nearby coastal town of Cambrils. In both incidents, the suspects deployed vehicles to run pedestrians over.
In the first incident the driver of a white van struck a group of pedestrians in Las Ramblas (La Rambla) area of Barcelona city center, killing 13 people and injuring over a hundred. The second incident took place hours later in Cambrils, 100km from Barcelona, injuring at least six people. One of them later succumbed to her injuries.
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the Las Ramblas attack.
19 August 2017
The official Catalan Police Twitter account has shared a video of some of their officers being applauded by a crowd of people in Barcelona today.
The message reads: "We would like to share with you one of the many expressions of support received that encourage us to keep working. Thank you".
The house of an imam, identified as Abdelbaki Es Satty, was raided Saturday in the town of Ripoll over alleged links with the terrorist group responsible for the attacks in Catalonia. The main goal of the search was to obtain DNA evidence in the apartment, as investigators believe the imam might be one of the two dead people discovered in the Alcanar house after an explosion there, El Pais reported.
The imam was last seen Tuesday according to his landlord, a day before the explosion in the village of Alcanar Platja, which investigators believe to be connected with the terrorist attacks, Reuters reports.
Catalan police have appealed to people not to reveal information about their operations in the region.
Catalan police have tweeted an appeal to the media not to interfere in their investigations, saying that two reporters managed to access a sealed building. They did not specify where the building is located.
So far, seven of the 14 victims of the Barcelona attack have been identified, as has the one civilian killed in Cambrils. Catalan officials say that 54 people remain hospitalized, and 78 have been discharged since Thursday's attacks.
Catalan authorities have identified another victim of the Barcelona terrorist attack, a Portuguese national.
French authorities are carrying out extra checks on people traveling over the shared border with Spain, an unnamed security official told the AP. The move is reportedly a routine response when neighboring countries flag a potential risk.
Spanish authorities believe the terrorist cell behind the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks has been fully dismantled, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said Saturday.
The government will maintain a level-four security alert, Zoido added, one notch below the level indicating an imminent attack is expected. Security will be reinforced at tourist areas.
Police issued an alert Saturday morning advising of planned "controlled explosions in Alcanar". Authorities say a suspected bombing plot, linked to the Barcelona and Cambrils terrorist attacks, was likely thwarted by an explosion at a property in Alcanar on Wednesday night.
18 August 2017
Police have identified the 5 terrorists killed in Cambrils. Cadena Ser are reporting that they are all between the ages of 17 and 24.
There are 59 people still receiving treatment at different hospitals and health centers following the attacks.
15 of them are in a critical condition while a further 25 are in serious conditions, La Cadena Ser is reporting.
"With great sadness I have been informed that a Canadian is dead and four have been injured by the cowardly terrorist attack in Barcelona," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement.
"We join Spain and countries around the world in grieving the senseless loss of so many innocent people. We must stand firm against the spread of hate and intolerance in all its forms."
In a phone call with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, US President Donald Trump has pledged America's full support in investigating the attacks and bringing the perpetrators to justice, the White House said in a statement.
Trump also extended his condolences to the victims of the attacks and their families.
Investigators have found traces of the explosive TATP, better known as the 'mother of Satan', among the ruins of the house in Alcanar, according to reports in El Pais.
Police are investigating whether the suspects were planning a bigger attack.
TATP has been used by ISIS in other attacks such as those in Paris and Brussels.
Madrid's city council building has lit up in the colors of the Barcelona flag to pay tribute to the victims of the terror attacks.
The president of Argentina has met with the Spanish ambassador Ramon Puerta in Buenos Aires, El Pais reports. Mauricio Macri said that "the government is at the disposal of wounded Argentines and their families."
Moussa Oukabir, a key suspect in the Barcelona attacks, is one of the five men killed by police after the terrorist incident in Cambrils, according to Spanish media reports.
The 17-year-old Moroccan national is alleged to have driven a white van down the popular tourist thoroughfare, killing 14 people and injuring more than a hundred.
Sources told Europa Press that Oukabir, aided by a terrorist cell, escaped to Cambrils where he and four others attempted to carry out a similar attack.
The US citizen killed in the Las Ramblas attack has been identified.
Jared Tucker was among the 14 people killed on the busy Spanish thoroughfare Friday. The California native was in Barcelona with his wife Heidi for their first wedding anniversary.
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Jared’s father Daniel Tucker said that Heidi has been to the morgue to identify her husband.
“It’s just something we really don’t understand,” he said. “Everybody loved him.”
Jared Tucker, a father of three, had worked in construction with Daniel since he was 16 years old.
Barcelona’s Deputy Mayor Gerardo Pisarello has rejected criticism of the city council for failing to erect bollards on Las Ramblas ahead of Friday’s terrorist attack. Writing on Twitter, Pisarello said that security measures are determined by the Department of the Interior.
“To make things clear, Barcelona City Council has never refused to put up bollards, and whenever it has been requested, it has done so,” he said.
"The measures of anti-terrorist security are determined by those in charge of Interior."
Three of the four suspects wanted by police were killed during the Cambrils attack, according to Spanish media reports citing sources in the Department of the Interior.
Oukabir Moussa, 17, Mohamed Hychami, 22, and Said Aallaa, 27, have all been reportedly killed. The search continues for Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22.
French authorities are on the lookout for a van linked to the group who carried out the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks, according to French newspaper Le Parisien.
Official sources quoted by the newspaper claim that the vehicle, a white Renault Kangoo, was rented on Thursday afternoon and crossed the border into France after Friday’s attacks.
The van is said to have been rented by 27-year-old Mohamed Hychami, one of the men reportedly wanted by police in relation to the Las Ramblas attack.
The four men wanted by police over their alleged involvement in the Barcelona attacks may have been the killed in Cambrils, according to Spanish media reports.
Catalan police officers killed five men during the Cambrils incident and DNA tests are now being carried out to confirm whether they are the suspects being sought.
Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reports that it could take days to get the results of the tests.
FC Barcelona will pay tribute to the victims of the Las Ramblas and Cambrils attacks by wearing a special commemorative shirt during their game against Real Betis at the Nou Camp Sunday.
The Spanish football authorities have given the team permission to print ‘Barcelona’ on the back of the jerseys in place of the players’ surnames. Each member of the squad will also have the slogan #TotsSomBarcelona embroidered into the club's trademark burgundy and blue bars.
A minute silence will be held before the game to remember the victims of the attacks.
A second set of biological remains have been found in the rubble of the home in Alcanar, according to reports in the Spanish media.
Catalan police confirmed that they are continuing to investigate the site of the explosion which claimed the life of at least one person and injured seven others Wednesday.
Police are seeking four men suspected of being involved in the Las Ramblas and Cambrils attacks.
They are named as 17-year-old Moussa Oukabir, 18-year-old Said Aallaa, 27-year-old Mohamed Hychami and 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub.
Three of the men are said to be residents of Ripoll, with a fourth from Ribes de Freser. It is not yet clear whether the men took any part in the attacks.
The king of Morocco has also expressed his condolences to Spain over Thursday’s terrorist attacks, condemning the “odious criminal act, contrary to all human values and religious precepts.”
Three Moroccan men are currently being held as suspects in the attacks.
In a statement, the royal also sent a message of “solidarity and compassion” to Spanish monarch King Felipe VI and the victims’ families.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has posted a message of thanks to US President Donald Trump. Following a call with his US counterpart, Rajoy wrote on Twitter: “Thank you for your message of love, affection and cooperation of USA with Spain.”
An image of the conversation was also shared from Trump's Instagram account.
The driver of the van used in the Las Ramblas attack is believed to be among the five men shot in the Cambrils incident, according to police sources cited by Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Spanish newspaper El Diario are reporting that the man said to have been injured in the Alcanar explosion will be transferred from Tortosa police station to the headquarters of the National Court in Madrid.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has taken to Twitter to issue a defiant message, saying: “Fear will not prevail.”
The post, which includes pictures of her walking down Las Ramblas as well as her visit to the flower-laden site of the attack, also reads: “Let’s go for a walk on the Rambla and do it with freedom and love for our city and our life.”
A man reported to have been involved in the house explosion in Alcanar has been taken into custody at Tortosa police station, according to Catalan police. The man had been hospitalized in Tortosa, a city southwest of Barcelona, following the explosion in which one person was killed and seven more injured.
Police have linked the Alcanar incident with the attacks on Cambrils and the Catalan capital.
Some 24 coroners from the Catalan Department of Justice worked throughout the night to conduct autopsies on the victims of Thursday’s attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, according to the province’s emergency services.
Catalan emergency services say that 61 people have been discharged from hospital since the attacks. A further 65 people remain in hospital in Barcelona and Tarragona, a port city west of the Catalan capital.
Catalan police have urged people not to disseminate false information related to the attacks over social networks, asking that people only trust official sources.
Writing on Twitter, Mossos even included two examples of the types of false information being spread.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says one US citizen has been confirmed killed in the attacks.
British authorities are looking into reports of a seven-year-old boy missing in Barcelona. Julian Cadman, who has dual nationality with Australia, was separated from his mother after she was seriously injured during the Las Ramblas attack.
Cadman’s mother is said to be in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
UK Prime Minister Therersa May said in a statement: "We're urgently looking into reports of a child believed missing, who is a British dual national.
"The Foreign Office is offering consular assistance to those who were involved in the attack and their families, and are working urgently to see if there are others who need their help."
Catalan police report that during the Cambrils incident, an attacker managed to stab a person in the face before being shot by police.
The suspects in the Cambrils incident had an ax as well as a number of different knives in the car used to drive into pedestrians in the coastal town. Fake explosives were also found attached to their belts, according to Catalan police.
A senior police official says one officer killed four of the suspects who carried out the attack in Cambrils. Five suspects were killed on the scene in total, after a car drove into a crowd at the seaside town, killing one person.
Spanish police believe the suspects detained over the Barcelona and Cambrils incidents were preparing a much bigger attack.
Three Moroccan nationals and one Spanish national have been detained in relation to the attacks. A senior police official has said that authorities have yet to identify the driver of the van in the Barcelona attack.
Catalonian police have announced that none of the four suspects detained over the Cambrils and Barcelona attacks have a history of terrorism-related offences.
Three men arrested in connection with the Catalonia attacks are from Morocco, the fourth is from Spain, police said during a news conference, Reuters reports. Later police tweeted that none of the four men had a history of terrorism-related charges.
Spanish media released the name of a person said to be the driver of the van that plowed into people in Barcelona. Moussa Oukabir, 17, is reportedly a brother of Driss Oukabir. The latter handed himself in to police following the assault, claiming his ID was stolen.
RT.com has captured footage of a Las Ramblas van attack suspect being arrested in the town of Ripoll. In the video, crowds gather around a premises guarded by armed police on Pont d’Olot street, on the outskirts of Barcelona.
As the suspect is taken out and placed into a waiting police vehicle, onlookers can be heard heckling, forcing the armed police to form a protective ring around the scene.
Catalonia’s emergency services say that people of 34 nationalities are among the dead and injured in the two terrorist attacks in the region.
The Proteccio Civil tweeted the list of nationalities of the victims, which includes places as varied as Honduras, Kuwait, Peru and Taiwan.
Police say a fourth person has been arrested in connection with the Catalonia attacks.
The death toll from the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils has risen to 14, the Catalonia emergency services wrote on Twitter.
A woman who was admitted to the Joan XXIII hospital in Cambrils has died, the statement said.
A minute’s silence was observed at 12pm across the whole country. King Felipe VI of Spain and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took part in the ceremony in Catalonia Square in Barcelona.
The third man arrested in Ripoll is reportedly a 34-year-old Moroccan citizen, El Pais newspaper said, adding that he is a friend of Driss Oukabir. Oukabir, a 28-year-old man born in Morocco, was arrested earlier in connection with the Barcelona attack.
Reports of the alleged death of a person who was injured in Cambrils attack and later admitted to Joan XXIII hospital, are “not true,” Catalonian police tweeted.
Catalan authorities are holding a crisis meeting following both attacks, local Interior Ministry official Joaquim Forn tweeted.
There’s at least one “terrorist still out there” after Catalonia attacks, regional head Carles Puigdemont told Onda Cero radio, as cited by AP.
“We don't have information regarding the capacity to do more harm,” he added.
It’s not yet clear if the man on the run is the driver of the vehicle that rammed pedestrians in Barcelona.
The suspected terrorists may have planned to use canisters in the attack on Thursday, Catalan government official Joaquim Forn told local radio, as cited by Reuters.
“The priority right now is work out the identity of these people, to prove and show the relationship between the different people involved, those that took the van and those that have been able to escape,” Forn said.
Authorities believe that a cell of eight people may have been linked with attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, Reuters reported, citing a judicial source. The source added that terrorist suspects may have been planning an attack with gas canisters.
Explosive belts worn by terrorist suspects killed in Cambrils were fake, Reuters cited Catalan's regional head Carles Puigdemont as saying.
The Barcelona attackers have no links to France, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said in a statement.
“For the time being, we have put the list of those involved through our database. We have not, for the time being, identified that any of the individuals [behind Barcelona attack] might have been in France, but further confirmations will be necessary,” he said.
One more person has been arrested in the town of Ripoll, 90km north from Barcelona, in connection with the attack, Catalan police tweeted.
“A third person has been detained in Ripoll in relation to the attacks,” the police statement said.
At least 26 French citizens were injured in the attack in Barcelona, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement. Eleven of them are in serious condition, he added.
Le Drian said that he would visit Barcelona later on Friday to visit the attack victims.
Citizens from 24 countries were among the people killed or injured during the Barcelona van attack, the Catalan regional government has said according to the Telegraph.
Six civilians and one officer were injured in the attack before police neutralized five terrorists in Cambrils, a touristy town outside of Barcelona. Two of the injured remain in a serious condition.
World leaders have condemned the terrorist attack in Barcelona, expressing their condolences and support for people who have lost their loved ones in the atrocity.
World leaders condemn ‘cruel and cynical’ Barcelona terrorist attack
WARNING! GRAPHIC FOOTAGE!
A Colombian citizen is among the injured in Barcelona, the foreign ministry of Colombia has confirmed, according to El Pais.
Authorities are now working to determine if the alleged terrorists in Cambrils wore explosive belts, police said on Twitter.
"We work on the hypothesis that the terrorists killed in Cambrils would be related to the events registered in Barcelona and Alcanar," Catalan authorities tweeted.
A total of 119 people have been treated for injuries following the attack in Barcelona, according to the interior minister, La Vanguardia reports.
"It seems that there was a cell ready to attack in Catalonia," interior minister, Joaquim Forn told the 324 TV channel.
Catalonian police said it is currently carrying out a counter terrorist operation in Cambrils, a coastal town around 120km from Barcelona. Officials are advising people there to “stay home and stay safe.”
17 August 2017
Nationals of at least 18 countries have been killed or injured in Barcelona terrorist attack, AFP reports citing local authorities.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has announced three days of mourning for the victims of the attack. Flags will be lowered to half mast at all government buildings.
"Today the fight against terrorism is the principal priority for free and open societies like ours. It is a global threat and the response has to be global," Rajoy said at a press conference in Barcelona.
Here's everything we know so far about the about the Islamic State claimed attack:
READ MORE: Barcelona: What we know so far
While here's more information on Wednesday night's explosion in Alcanar.
Las Ramblas has been partially reopened as some restrictions have been lifted.
Officers from the municipal police force are accompanying tourists to hotels that remain in the area that is cordoned off.
German public television channel ZDF is reporting that three German citizens are among those killed in the van attack on Las Ramblas.
The organization is citing security services as the source of the information.
Police official Trapero has told the press conference that there is no evidence that there will be another attack.
He also said that there is no evidence that the van driver, who is still at large, is armed.
A Catalan police official, Josep Lluís Trapero, has revealed that neither of the men arrested were the driver of the van which mowed down dozens of people on Las Ramblas.
One of the arrested men is from Morocco while the other is from the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the coast of north Africa.
Trapero also said that they believe that an explosion on Wednesday night in the town of Alcanar (over 200 km from Barcelona) is connected to the attack.
The Catalan interior minister, Joaquim Forn, has raised the death toll again to 13.
Speaking at a press conference Forn said that over 100 people are injured and the casualty count may yet rise as some of the injured are in a serious condition.
Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reports that a man claiming to be Driss Oukabir has presented himself at a police station in Ripoll, Girona. The man, who claims to have been in Ripoll at the time of the attack, also claims that his identity papers were stolen by one of the suspected terrorists.
Jordi Munell, the Mayor of Ripoll, is said to have told the paper that the man went to the police after seeing that his photograph was being circulated by the authorities.
Munell also said that Oukabir is well-known in the local community.
Spanish media reports that the driver of the car suspected of breaking a police checkpoint at Barcelona’s Avinguda Diagonal has been shot dead by the authorities. It is not yet clear whether the incident is connected to the Las Ramblas attack.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has issued a defiant message on Twitter.
“Barcelona is a city of peace,” she writes. “Terror will not get us to cease being who we are: an open city in the world, courageous and supportive.”
Police say the bomb squad are checking the area on the outskirts of Barcelona where the driver of the car suspected of hitting officers at Avinguda Diagonal is reported to have lived.
President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to King Philip VI of Spain over the Barcelona attack. He also urged a united international anti-terrorist effort, the Kremlin has said.
“We strongly condemn this cruel and cynical crime, committed against civilians. What has happened once again confirms the need for a real unification of the efforts of the entire international community in an uncompromising fight against the forces of terror,” Putin said in a statement.
The Russian president also conveyed words of sympathy to the relatives and friends of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured, the Kremlin added.
“The terrorists will never defeat a United people who love freedom from barbarism. All Spain is with the victims and families," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has tweeted.
Rajoy also tweeted that he is travelling to Barcelona to help coordinate the response to the terrorist incident.
The Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the terrorist group’s AMAQ news agency.
"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.
Spanish police have confirmed earlier media reports that a vehicle drove through a police checkpoint on Barcelona’s Avinguda Diagonal. Two officers were injured in the incident which took place shortly before 7:30pm local time.
It has not been confirmed that the incident is linked to the van attack in the city center.
Moscow has expressed its condolences while strongly condemning the terrorist attack in Barcelona.
“We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Barcelona. There can be no justification to this evil,” Russia’s foreign ministry said on Twitter.
“We convey the words of sympathy to the people of Spain. We grief together with you,” it added.
Catalonia's regional president, Carles Puigdemont, has said that 80 people have been hospitalized and "around 12" killed in the van attack.
He also confirmed that two people have been arrested.
The Islamic Commission of Spain has issued a statement strongly condemning the attack in Barcelona.
The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he is travelling to Barcelona to help coordinate efforts to reinforce security in the aftermath of the attack.
"Maximum coordination to arrest the attackers, reinforce security and attend to all those affected," he said.
One of the attackers has been killed following a shootout with police, according to Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia. Police earlier confirmed they had arrested a man in connection with the attack.
13 dead, 50 injured.
Joaquim Forn, the Catalan interior minister, has provided an update on the death toll. Some 13 people have been killed and 50 others injured. Forn said he condemns the incident in the strongest way.
Several Spanish media organizations are reporting that police have identified suspect Driss Oukabir, a Marseille native and resident of the Girona area.
It is thought Oukabir collected the white van from Santa Perpetua de la Mogoda, according to police sources.
Catalan police have refuted media reports that one of the attackers is held up in a bar. Reports in Spanish media had earlier claimed that either one or two attackers were holding people hostage.
US President Donald Trump has responded to the attack, pledging that the US “will do whatever is necessary to help.”
French president Emmanuel Macron also expressed France’s solidarity following the “tragic attack”.
Spanish public broadcaster RTVE is reporting that one of the suspects has been arrested.
Three police officers have reportedly been injured after a vehicle drove through a police checkpoint on Barcelona’s Avinguda Diagonal.
Footage posted online, which has since been removed, showed officers injured on the road following the incident. It is not yet known the extent of their injuries or if the incident is connected to the Las Ramblas attack.
The white van used in the attack was rented in the city of Santa Perpetua de la Mogoda, around 15 miles (25km) north of Barcelona, according to El Mundo.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has responded to the attack, saying: “Terrorists around the world should know the US is resolved to find you and bring you to justice.”
In a makeshift press conference Joaquim Forn, of the Catalan department of the interior, told reporters that the death toll will rise.
Catalan emergency services are urging people to clear the roads to make it easier for emergency vehicles to pass.
A second van has been found in Vic, which is around 40 miles (70km) from Barcelona, police sources have told El Mundo.
Police have confirmed that one person has died in the incident while 32 people have been injured, 10 seriously.
Authorities have released a description of the attacker – a man, approximately 5ft 5in (1.70 meters) tall and dressed in a white shirt with blue stripes.
A White House Official is saying that the White House Chief of Staff, John F. Kelly, is keeping US President Donald Trump abreast of the situation in Barcelona.
Police have confirmed the incident is a terror attack.
Local radio station Cadena Ser are reporting that at least 13 people are dead following the van rampage. The radio station are citing police sources.
Images from across social media appear to show the heavily-damaged van come to rest near the Joan Miró mosaic on Barcelona’s main shopping boulevard.
Catalan police have said that they “activated attack protocols,” however they “cannot confirm” what the motive was.
The department of the interior has said there has been no shootout between authorities and attackers and it implored people to follow only official sources. It also confirmed that at least one person was killed in the attack.
Authorities have not yet confirmed how many people were struck in the attack, however local media sources are reporting that at least one person has been killed and between 20 and 25 people have been injured. Police confirmed there are dead and injured, but have not specified the number.
It’s still unclear whether there are one or two attackers on the run. The department of the interior is searching for a second van that the attacker, or attackers, may have used to flee the scene, El Periodico is reporting.
Catalan news channel TV3 says an assailant is in the ‘Rey de Estambul’ restaurant on Carrer de l’Hospital, which shares a junction with Las Ramblas.
Spain’s department of the interior has tweeted that a manhunt is underway “for the author of the attack.”
Emergency services are tending to the injured at the scene.
Two armed men, who are understood to have been in the van, are “entrenched” in a bar following the crash, El Periodico newspaper is reporting.
AFP is reporting that Spanish authorities have labelled the incident a “terrorist attack.”
Videos taken at the scene shortly after the incident show panicked people running for cover.
Spanish National Police have asked people not to shares images from the scene out of respect to the injured and their families.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he’s in contact with authorities on the ground and that the priority is to attend to the injured.
Emergency services have asked people in the immediate vicinity of Placa Catalunya to stay indoors until police advise them it’s safe to leave.