Barcelona attack: Here’s what we know so far

Police shot and killed five people wearing fake bomb belts who staged a deadly car attack in a seaside resort in Spain’s Catalonia region Friday, just hours after a van plowed into pedestrians on a busy Barcelona street.

Fourteen people have died, and more than 100 others are injured from the attacks. The number of fatalities will likely rise, according to authorities.

Here is what we know so far.

First attack

Around 5:10 p.m. Thursday, a white Fiat van rammed into a crowd in the tourist street in Las Ramblas in Barcelona, with “intention of killing as many people as possible,” Spanish police said. The attack killed 13 people and injured 100 others.

Police confirmed it was a terrorist attack less than an hour after the incident.

0:59 Man captures shocking moment Cambrils, Spain attacker is shot by police

• Man captures shocking moment Cambrils, Spain attacker is shot by police
• Spanish police offer more details on five suspects shot dead following Barcelona attack
• Multiple deaths and dozens injured in Barcelona terror attack
• Barcelona soccer players hold moment of silence in honour of van attack victims
• Video shows pedestrians with their arms raised being evacuated by Barcelona police
• Van drives into crowd in Barcelona terror attack
• U.S. will ‘find and punish those responsible’ for Barcelona attack: Mike Pence
• Amateur video captures chaotic scene following van attack in Barcelona
• Video shows police running towards scene of Barcelona attack, victims being treated

Previous Video

Next Video

Second attack

Early Friday morning, five terrorist suspects were shot after they drove their car onto a pedestrian area in the seaside town of Cambrils, some 100 kilometres south of Barcelona. The suspects were attempting to replicate the van attack that happened in Barcelona Thursday evening.

One civilian — a Spanish woman — was killed in the Cambrils incident while several other civilians and a police officer were injured. Police destroyed explosive belts the men had been wearing, though they turned out to be fake.

Four of the suspects were shot dead at the scene, while the fifth died of his gunshot wounds a few hours later.

Police said the Cambrils plot was linked to the Barcelona attack as well as an explosion in Alcanar.

Related explosion

Twenty-four hours before this, on Wednesday evening, a house exploded in the city of Alcanar Platja, which is around 190 kilometres south along the coast from Barcelona. One person was killed and another wounded in an initial explosion that destroyed the house. Police and firefighters who came to the scene were wounded by a second blast.

The Alcanar explosions were initially reported to have been caused by gas cylinders. However, it was revealed it was linked to the terrorist attack in Barcelona later on Thursday.

On Friday, police confirmed the two deadly attacks on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday had been planned for some time by people operating out of the town of Alcanar.

WATCH: Home explosion outside Barcelona linked to van attack

0:46 Home explosion outside Barcelona linked to van attack

Any arrests?

Four people have been arrested so far. The driver of the van is still at large.

Citing police sources, Spain’s RTVE as well as El Pais and TV3 identified 17-year-old Moussa Oukabir, as the suspected driver of the van. On Friday, police searched the family apartment of the teenager in the northern town of Ripoll. No one was home when police arrived.

According to a Spanish police union official, Moussa was one of the suspects shot to death in Cambrils.

One of the suspects Driss Oukabir, was named, who is reported to be Moussa Oukabir’s brother. Reports from local media say Oukabir turned himself in after his photo was circulated by police.

Oukabir is in his 20s, and is said to be a Moroccan citizen and a legal resident of Spain.

Reports say his documentation was found in or near the white Fiat van that plowed into a crowd in the city’s busy Las Ramblas area, which he was suspected of renting, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. It’s not yet clear if or how Oukabir was involved with the group.

View image in full screen

Who is behind it?

The so-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement carried on its Aamaq news agency.

A judicial source said investigators believed a cell of at least eight people, possibly 12, may have been involved in the Barcelona and Cambrils operations and that it had been planning to use gas canisters.

What we know about victims

Canada is on the list of countries with citizens killed or injured in the Barcelona attacks, according to Spanish authorities. Global Affairs said Canadians have been affected by the attacks, but did not provide further details, citing privacy reasons.

The other dead or injured came from 34 different countries, the Catalonia regional government said, ranging from the United States, France and Germany to Pakistan and the Philippines. Spanish media said several children were killed.

An Italian father of two, Bruno Gulotta has been confirmed as one of the victims of the van attack in Barcelona. In a post on their website, the Italian branch of Tom’s Hardware confirmed that Gulotta had died.

View image in full screen

Joaquim Forn, the regional interior chief who is in charge of the police told reporters the “number of fatalities will likely rise.”

So far there are 14 people dead, 17 people in critical condition, 28 people in serious condition, eight people in minor condition and 12 people who are slightly hurt.

With files from Reuters and the Associates Press