Barcelona Attacks - What We Know So Far

A truck ploughed into a group of people on Barcelona's busiest tourist street, Las Ramblas, on Thursday August 17. It was reported that 13 people have died and several others were injured, including children. Police said they are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.

The alleged armed perpetrators fled the scene on foot after the collision and entered a nearby restaurant.

"All of sudden it was real chaos. People just started running, screaming, there were loud bangs. People just started running into shops, there was a kind of mini-stampede where we were, down one of the alleyways," witness Ethan Spibey told Sky News, adding that he had sought shelter in a nearby church with dozens of other people. "They've locked the doors because I'm not sure whether the person who may have done it has actually been caught, so they've locked the doors and told people just to wait in here."

Emergency services requested that train and metro stations be closed. They also asked that people in the area stay inside until told to leave and that the Ramblas area be avoided to allow the emergency services to do their jobs.

The Festival of Gracia, a well-known street festival that runs from 15 - 21 of August in Barcelona, has been canceled.

(Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)

UPDATE: Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has offered his condolences to the Spanish nation.

"I’m deeply saddened by a terrorist act in Barcelona. I offer my sincere condolences to the government of Spain and Spanish people. Terrorism threatens world citizens with new violent methods. Innocent people fall as victims. I hope the civilized world can face this enormous challenge and achieve peace. We have to do everything in our power to defeat terrorism and bring people a chance to live peacefully".

President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili also commented on the incident: “I’m horrified about the terrorist act in Barcelona, Spain. Innocent lives were lost. We, together with the international community, continue our fight against the greatest threat of modernity. In these difficult times, in the name of the Georgian people and myself personally, I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and declare my strongest support to the Spanish government and people".

The Georgian Consulate in Barcelona has opened a hotline for Georgian citizens: +34687661274 and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has done likewise: (+995) (32) 294 50 50.

UPDATE 23:30: The so-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack through its online news agency

UPDATE 22:38: It is said that one person has been detained by local police. 

UPDATE 21:56: Interior Councilor of Catalonia Joaquim Forn told a press conference that he can only confirm one person had been killed and 32 were injured in the attack.

UPDATE August 18: Spanish police shoot dead five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils, in a second vehicle attack after the one in Barcelona, with 13 people killed and dozens injured, BBC reports. 

Cambrils is a popular sea resort 110 kilometers south west of Barcelona, where seven people including a police officer were injured when a car drove in to them on Friday. As the attacker’s car overturned, the men who got out were wearing explosive belts, a series of controlled explosions were carried out, the BBC says. The attackers were shot by the police. 

Police are still hunting the man who drove his van into crowds in Barcelona yesterday. 

Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy declared three days of mourning, and a minutes silence will be held on Friday. 

Two people were arrested yesterday following the Barcelona attack, but the hunt for the driver of the van is still on-going. One of the arrested is Driss Oubakir, born in Morocco. It was reported that his documents were used to rent a van, although it’s been said he claimed to have lost his documents and has nothing to do with the Barcelona attack. His younger brother Moussa Oukabir is suspected in connection with the Las Ramblas attack, the media reports. 

Two more are reported to have been arrested following the attack in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, were citizens of 24 countries were either killed or injured, BBC says, reporting a timeline of events of Spanish attacks. 

§ Wednesday evening, in Alcanar, an explosion in a house in the town 200 kilometers south of Barcelona, with one person dead, the residents of the house appeared to be preparing explosive devices. The incident is being linked with Las Ramblas attack; Barcelona, Thursday, (16:50) a white van driving in the crowd, killing 13 and injuring dozens. Vic, Thursday (18:30) (14:50 GMT) Police found a second van suspected to be a getaway 80 kilometers out of Barcelona. 

§ In Sant Just Desvern, 19:30: A car is driven into officers at a checkpoint, on the outskirts of Barcelona. “One man is found dead in the car but the interior ministry denies earlier reports he was killed by police gunfire. The dead man is not believed to be linked to the Las Ramblas attack, officials say, but investigations are ongoing”, Cambrils, Friday 01:00: Police stop a second vehicle attack in the resort, south of Barcelona, killing five terrorist suspects said to be linked to the Las Ramblas attack, BBC reports. 

Source: BBC

Update August 21: Morrocan national Younes Abouyaaqoub may now be the key suspect in the Barcelona attack, since it became clear that Moussa Oukabir, named as the primary suspect earlier, has been shot in the Cambris attack, BBC reports. 

Said Aallaa, Mohamed Hychami, Omar Hychami and Houssaine Abouyaaqoub were also killed. 

Two others were arrested along with Driss Oukabir, brother of Moussa Oukabir, the men who was named to be the primary suspect earlier after the attack.  

It is believed that larger attacks may have been planned.  

“They were preparing one or several attacks in Barcelona, and an explosion in Alcanar stopped this as they no longer had the material they needed to commit attacks on an even bigger scale," BBC quotes Catalonia police official Josep Lluis Trapero. However, it’s still not known how many people precisely were involved in the planning of the terrorist attacks in Spain.

Spanish Police has confirmed the identity of the driver, suspected of killing 13 pople in a terrrorist attack in Barcelona. A manhunt all over Europe for 22 year old Younes Abouyaaqoub continues. 

“Authorities earlier said they could not rule out the possibility that he had slipped across the border to France. New CCTV footage from the day of the attack appears to show him fleeing the scene on foot,” BBC reports. According to BBC, the images published in EL Pais newspaper show the man in sunglasses who’s walking through La Boqueria market, after the attack on Las Ramblas. 

Police is investigating the stabbing and killing of a Spanish man 90 minutes after the attack, with the suspect stealing his car. 

“Two hours after the attack, 34-year-old Pau Pérez, from Vila Franca, was found dead in the passenger seat of his vehicle. He is the 15th person confirmed dead following the two attacks” BBC says.

UPDATE August 22: Four men accused of being responsible for the attacks are transfered to Madrid to face the high court. The last suspect of the terrorist attack in Barcelona was killed in a vineyard west of the city on Monday, BBC reports. Younes Abouyaaqoub, who is said to be the driver of the van, has been shot dead by the police.