Barcelona terror attack: Van attack in Barcelona linked to house explosion

A manhunt is under way for the driver of a van that killed at least 13 people and injured more than 100 in Catalonia's capital.

Authorities push people back on streets of Barcelona following an incident involving a van and a crowd

A "jihadist" van attack that killed at least 13 people in Barcelona city centre has been linked to an explosion 100 miles away.
A white van mounted the pavement of Las Ramblas, the main tourist area in the city, and struck dozens of people at around 5pm on Thursday.
Police said on Thursday that they have arrested two people over the attack but they are still hunting the driver of the vehicle, who is said to have fled on foot.
Senior police official Josep Lluis Trapero said, although two are being held: "That doesn't mean that either were the author of the attack."Police search streets of Barcelona following terrorist attackIslamic State said it was responsible, according to the AMAQ news agency and Spain's Prime Minister described it as a "jihadist attack".
Catalan authorities have confirmed that at least 13 people have died and at least 100 have been injured but said the number of dead could rise.
The van who ploughed into the crowd, killing at least 13 people and injuring around 100 others is towed away from the Rambla in Barcelona
One social media video post showed bodies strewn across the pavement for several hundred metres along the famous street.
At least 18 nationalities are involved, but no Britons have been identified among the injured or dead so far.
The government of the Spanish autonomous region announced three days of mourning.
A statement put out by the 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."
Debris on the ground after a van hit pedestrians in Barcelona
Police initially said they were looking for a man of 5ft 5ins (1.7m) in height, wearing a white shirt with blue stripes.
The van used in the atrocity is said to be a Fiat, that was hired from an address in Santa Perpetua Of the Mogoda, about five miles north of the city.
There was no evidence the person who left the van was armed, Catalonia's interior ministry said.
Police have identified a suspect who they say rented a van, naming him as Driss Oukabir.
Armed police stand guard after the Barcelona attack

A Facebook account says he is from Marseilles and lives in Ripoll, Catalonia, about 50 miles north of Barcelona.
La Vanguadia has reported that the man handed himself in to the police station at Ripoll after he saw his photo in the media, claiming his documentation had been stolen and that he was in Ripoll at the time of the attack.
Two people have been arrested and neither of them is the driver of the van, but the investigation is ongoing.
The arrests took place in Ripoll and Alcanar.
Damage caused by the explosion at a property in Alcanar. Pic: @bomberscat
The two who are being held are a Spanish national from the country's African enclave of Melilla and a Moroccan.
A police official said the van attack is being linked to an explosion in the tourist district of Alcanar in which one person was killed, about 100 miles (160km) southwest of Barcelona.
TV3 reported that a house blast in the village of Alcanar Platja on Wednesday afternoon killed one occupant, seriously injured another and injured another six nearby, including some foreigners from France, Italy and Morocco.
Police have since said they suspect those in the house were "preparing an explosive device."
Police have released an image of this suspect following the terror attack in Barcelona
Security forces have found a second van connected to the attack in the town of Vic, 40 miles from Barcelona, 18 miles south of Ripoll, according to police sources.
Catalan police have confirmed a driver ran into two police officers at a checkpoint in Sant Just Desvern, about five miles west of Las Ramblas, at 7.24pm local time, but it is not known if it is linked to the attack.
Media reports said a white Ford Focus ran over the officers and police said a vehicle was intercepted by police nearly six miles (10km) away.
A senior police official confirmed that regional police troopers shot and killed the driver.
A witness watched as police surrounded a vehicle in Sant Just Desvern and shouted "raise your hands, raise your hands", before he heard one or two shots, according to another report in La Vanguadia.
Carlos Mauri, a resident on the eighth floor of a building overlooking where a vehicle was parked, told the newspaper: "Suddenly I heard screams. I thought it was a fight and I went out on the balcony. There was a lot of police and they were shouting to the man of the vehicle."
He said afterwards a robot was dispatched to help examine the vehicle.
The bomb squad are said to have been checking an area in the Barcelona outskirts.
Police respond to terrorist attack in Barcelona
Numerous people were trapped in shops after being told to hide but have since been evacuated.
Metro and train stations have been closed and a large area has been cordoned off.
Barcelona mayor Ada Colau said a minute's silence will be held on Friday at midday at Placa Catalunya.
The scene after the incident
The Foreign Office released a statement saying: "The British Embassy in Madrid and Consulate General in Barcelona are in contact with local authorities and urgently seeking further information following reports of an incident in central Barcelona.
"Local authorities have advised people to stay inside and stay away from the Las Ramblas area of the city. If you're in the immediate area you should take care and follow the advice of the local security authorities."
By;Worldcoinsmoney.blogspot.com
SPAIN.

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