Barcelona terror attack: Children, some in tears, are escorted down a road in Barcelona, Spain on Thursday. Police in Barcelona say a white van has mounted a sidewalk, struck several people in the city’s Las Ramblas district. (AP Photo)
On Thursday, Spain saw one of the deadliest terror attacks as a van plowed into people in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas area. The attack in Catalonia carried out at around 5.30 pm (local time) left 14 dead and over 100 injured. Witnesses said the van kept pulling back and forth in order to hurt as many people as possible, also moving from side to side. The dead and injured are from over 34 countries, including France, Germany, Pakistan and the Philippines.
Islamic State (IS) took responsibility for the attack. “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,” IS’ media arm Amaq news agency issued a statement on Thursday. The terrorist organisation’s claims are yet to be verified.
Here are the live updates:
3:00 am: President Donald Trump spoke with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over the phone, on Friday and pledged the full support of the United States in investigating the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils 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, the statement said.
2:00 am: Some of the Victims of the terror attack in Spain have been named:
Jared Tucker, 42, USA
Jared Tucker has been confirmed as among those killed in a deadly truck attack in Barcelona, Spain, his father said Friday.
Pepita Codina, 75, Spain
Pepita Codina’s death was confirmed on Twitter and Instagram by Xavier Vilamala, the mayor of Hipolit de Voldrega. Hipolit de Voldrega is a town of 3,000 people, near Barcelona.
Ana Maria Suarez, Spain
She was the sole victim of the car attack in the Spanish seaside resort of Cambrils, on Friday according to a tweet by the Spanish Royal Family.
Bruno Gulotta, 35, Italy
Gulotta, belonged to Legnano, a city in northern Italy. He is being praised as a hero for protecting his children during an attack in Barcelona. To save his two young children: Alessandro, 6, and Aria, 7 months, Gulotta threw himself between them and the van that mowed people down.
Luca Russo, 25, Italy
He is one of the two Italian victims in the Barcelona van attack. He was an engineer by profession. Witnesses say he was dragged to death by the attacker’s car in Barcelona. His girlfriend Marta Scomazzon, was hospitalized with a fractured foot and elbow in the attack.
The Spanish authorities said that there are at least 34 nationalities represented among the victims of the attacks.
1: 00 am: An official with the Spanish Union police said a document has identified the four Barcelona terror attack suspects, who belonged to a small city of Ripoll, near the Pyrenees mountains ( an area close to Spain’s border with France). The document whose validity was confirmed by a Spanish police union official, identified the four as Moussa Oukabir, Said Aallaa, Mohamed Hychami and Younes Abouyaaqoub. The document further states that the four suspect are of Moroccan descent.
12:40 am: A Spanish police official confirmed earlier reports that Moussa Oukabir, one of the main suspects in the Barcelona van attacks, was killed by officers in Cambrils early Friday. Media reports in newspapers across Spain have also reported that Oukabir, 17, was killed and say that he was the driver of the van that plowed into scores of pedestrians in Barcelona, killing 13 people and wounding 120 others, on Thursday.
12:30 am: Barcelona Football Cub players will bear the city’s name on the back of their shirts in tribute to the victims of Thursday’s deadly attack in Spain’s largest city when they play Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday. The club has taken approval from Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) to have the message #TotsSomBarcelona (We are all Barcelona) embroidered on their jerseys. The players will also wear a black armband in a show of unity. All 40 teams in the Spain’s top two divisions in holding a minute’s silence before every game at the weekend.
12: 00 am: The Spanish police manage to disperse a small group of far-right protesters after separating them from hundreds of counter-protesters near the site of the Barcelona van attack. A small group of far-right protesters, numbering 20-30, held up signs saying “Stop Islamization of Europe.” While counter protesters raised slogans against the far-right protesters saying “tontos,” or “idiots”.
11: 30 pm: French official have started a search for a car that was rented by the suspects involved in the attack in Barcelona. French security official said the Spanish police were looking for a Kangoo utility vehicle which was rented by suspected attacks and that may have crossed into France. Spanish police had alerted the French authorities about the situation, prompting the French police to order a nation wide search for the car.
10.15 pm: According to Spanish media reports, driver of the van that plowed into people in Barcelona on Thursday was one of the five men killed by police hours after the attack. Catalan police had earlier said that it was possible that the driver was not of those shot by the police in a major anti-terror operation in Cambrils. However, Spain’s El Pais and El Periodico newspapers reported on Friday that the driver was one of them.
10.00 pm: Spanish media reported that police found documents bearing Driss Oukabir’s name in the attack van on Thursday. Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported that he went to police in Ripoll, Spain to report that his identity documents had been stolen. He claimed that his brother might have stolen them.
Undated handout photo of Driss Oukabir that was sourced from social media on Friday. (Social Media via AP)
9.45 pm: Emergency authorities in Spain provided an update on the number of casualties in the twin attacks. According to Civil Protection agency, 120 people were injured in Barcelona attack, and six in Cambrils. From the victims of the van attack in Barcelona, 61 people are still hospitalized. Out of these, 17 are in critical condition and 25 in serious condition. Four victims of the Cambrils attack are currently hospitalised, and three of them are in serious condition.
9.30 pm: In a tweet on Friday, US President Donald Trump said “radical Islamic terrorism” must be stopped. “Radical Islamic Terrorism must be stopped by whatever means necessary! The courts must give us back our protective rights. Have to be tough!” he tweeted. His tweet came a day after twin terror attacks in Spain. Islamic State has taken responsibility for the attacks.
9.15 pm: Spanish authorities have said that a gas explosion in a house in Alcanar on Wednesday led to two days of bloodshed in the country. Authorities first believed that it was simply a home gas explosion but later realised the building was packed with butane canisters.
9.00 pm: UN Security Council strongly condemned the terror attack in Barcelona and paid tribute to the victims. President of the council and Egypt’s UN Ambassador Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta began Friday’s meeting by denouncing the attacks. Aboulatta said the Security Council sends its “deepest condolences” to the families. “On behalf of the members of the Security Council, I should like to condemn in the strongest terms the unconscionable terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain, which targeted innocent civilians,” he said.
8.45 pm: Barcelona and Real Madrid football players held a minute of silence for the victims of the Spain terror attacks before their training sessions. England and West Indies cricket teams also observed a minute of silence before their first test match in Birmingham.
England and West Indies players during a minute silence in honor of the Barcelona terror attack victims before the match. (Reuters)
8.30 pm: “India fully supports Your Excellency’s Government in effectively responding to such attacks. We also stand ready to work with Spain to develop a strong global response to defeat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Indian PM Narendra Modi wrote to Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
8.15 pm: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy expressing his shock and strongly condemning the attacks. “On behalf of the people of India and on my own behalf, I offer heartfelt condolences for the lives lost in this heinous and cowardly act and wish speedy recovery for those injured,” he wrote.
8.00 pm: The United States State Department said at least one American was killed and another one injured in the terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils on Thursday. Saying the injured had only suffered minor injuries, the department said that diplomats from the US consulate in Barcelona were working with local authorities to identify victims and provide assistance.
7.45 pm: People organised memorial services for the victims of the attack in Barcelona.
People walk near an impromptu memorial a day after a van crashed into pedestrians at Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain August 18, 2017. (Reuters)
7.30 pm: Italy’s Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted the names of two Italians killed in the Barcelona terror attack. “Italy remembers Bruno Gulotta and Luca Russo and gathers tight around their families. Freedom will conquer the barbarianism of terrorism,” he tweeted on Friday. As per The Associated Press, 35-year-old Gullota was hailed as a hero in his hometown Legnano for putting himself between the van and his 6-year-old son and 7-month-old daughter. Officials said 25-year-old Russo’s girlfriend suffered fractures and remains hospitalised. Two other Italians were released from hospital.
7.15 pm: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II offered her sympathies to the King of Spain and the people of Barcelona. She and Prince Philip offered sincere condolences, saying their thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones or are in the hospital. She said it is “deeply upsetting when innocent people are put at risk in this way when going about their daily lives.”
Top developments that have taken place so far:
1. Police have arrested four people in relation with the attack. Catalan police had also gunned down five suspects in an extensive anti-terror operation few hours after the attack. The alleged terrorists were killed in an encounter in Cambrils in an operation which wounded five civilians and a police officer. According to Reuters, the attackers ran them over in a car before being killed. The police claimed that the attackers were carrying bomb belts, which were later detonated by the bomb squad, Police added the Cambrils incident was linked to the van attack in Barcelona.
2. Spain began three days of mourning in memory of the victims who were killed in the terror attack in Barcelona on Thursday. All across the country, flags could be seen flying at half mast. Hundreds of people gathered in Placa de Catalunya, city’s central square, on Friday to observe a minute of silence in the memory of the victims. Spain’s King Felipe, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and President of the Generalitat of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont were also present. People also laid down cards, candles and flowers at the site of the attack. Defiant crowds later on chanted, “I am not afraid” in Catalan, Reuters reported.
3. The attacks have been condemned by many leaders across the world, including US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called it a “jihadist attack” while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “terrorism can cause us bitter and deeply sad hours, as has happened in Spain, but it won’t defeat us.” In a message to the cardinal of Barcelona, Pope Francis said the attack was “an act of blind violence that is a grave offence to the Creator”.
4. Following the attacks, security has been beefed up in various places across Spain as well as other countries. While Spain increased security in various cities and tourist attractions like Guggenheim Museum, Italy also tightened security measurements at tourist hotspots like Colosseum.
(With inputs from Reuters, AP and AFP)
