13 Killed After Van Plows Into Barcelona Crowd; Two Arrested, ISIS Claims Responsibility

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• A terror attack took place in Barcelona when a van plowed into a crowd in Las Ramblas, killing at least 12 and injuring over 50
  
• The driver was arrested after escaping on foot, and a second suspect has also been arrested.
• A third attacker has died after being shot dead by the police.
• The Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
• The Spanish passport of a person of Moroccan origin was found at the scene of the attack, TV3 reports.
• Spanish police say there is no one at large in any bar in central Barcelona.
• This would be the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain since 2004 bombing, when Islamist militants placed bombs on commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800.

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Summary:

A white, rented van plowed into a busy street in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district. Barcelona police called it a terror attack and local media reported 13 dead and 50 injured. Witnesses saying the van zigzagged down one of Barcelona’s busiest tourist avenues, Las Ramblas, mowing down pedestrians and leaving bodies strewn across the ground.  The incident took place at the height of the tourist season in Barcelona, which is one of Europe’s top travel destinations with at least 11 million visitors a year.

Social network footage showed numerous bodies strewn along the Ramblas, some motionless. Paramedics and bystanders bent over them, treating them.

Police said they had arrested a man linked to the attack in the heart of the city, but did not identify him or describe his role. Earlier police were searching for the van’s driver who, according to local media, fled the scene on foot. Another suspect was killed in a shootout with the police.

A second man has also been arrested.

Earlier Spanish media had reported that two armed men were holed up in a bar in downtown Barcelona, and reported gunfire in the area, However, police later dismissed those reports.

The Islamic State’s Amaq news agency claims that the attack was carried out by “soldiers of the Islamic State” in response to calls to target citizens of countries “belonging to the coalition.”

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Update 11: According to a statement from the Amaq news agency, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Barcelona attack. According to Amaq, the attack was carried out by “soldiers of the Islamic State” in response to calls to target citizens of countries “belonging to the coalition.”

Additionally, Catalonia’s regional president said there have been two arrests after the Barcelona van attack, which killed 13 and hospitalised 80.

Separately El Pais reports that a suspect who attacked an officer of the Mossos d’Esquadra, or the Barcelona police, at a checkpoint on the road out of Barcelona after the attack has reportedly been found dead in his car. The body was discovered in Sant Just Desvern, 3km from where the police fired shots in an attempt to stop him. It was unclear whether he died from the gunshot wounds of police, or whether he killed himself.

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