The terrorists' car turned up when Police killed the group of 5 attackers

The house in the village of Alcanar, Catalonia, was destroyed by an explosion. Police believe that the terrorists used this house to prepare explosives for attacks Barcelona, Cambrils or somewhere else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acIv6q5ixQw

VietPress USA (Aug. 18th, 2017): There are 13 dead and 120 injured in a terror attack at Las Lamblas, Barcelona. Before that, a house in the Alcanar was destroyed by an explosion that killed 2 men in the house. 4 people have been arrested: one of them in Alcanar and three in Ripoll. Three were Moroccan. After that, 5 armed men plowed their car in a pedestrian site in Cambrils that killed one and injured some others. Police killed totally this group of 5 attackers.Please read this news from CNN at:  http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/17/europe/barcelona-spain-van-latest/index.html

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Terror attacks in Spain: Live updates

Witnesses describe Barcelona attack 01:30

Key developments

-- Four people have been arrested: one of them in Alcanar and three in Ripoll. Three were Moroccan citizens and another was Spanish; they ranged in age from 21 to 34. None was on the radar for terrorism.

-- People from at least 34 countries are among the injured in the attacks, Catalan authorities said. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said an American citizen was among the dead. Two Italians were the first victims to be named.

-- Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy labeled the Barcelona attack "jihadi terrorism." Rajoy's government has declared three days of mourning across Spain.

-- The ISIS media wing, Amaq, has said the Barcelona attackers were "soldiers of the Islamic State," but stopped short of explicitly claiming responsibility for the attacks or providing evidence for their claims.

-- King Felipe, the Spanish head of state, led a moment's silence at Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya -- near where the attack began. Crowds later joined in lengthy applause. "We are not afraid, we won't forget," they chanted.

King Felipe VI of Spain leads a moment of silence in Plaça de Catalunya on Friday.

An attack gone wrong

The first sign of the terror cell's activities -- although its significance was not immediately understood -- came Wednesday evening when a house was almost completely destroyed by an unexpected explosion.

One person, a Spanish national, died the in the blast, and another was seriously injured. Both were found inside the house. The second man has been detained and taken to a police station, Catalan police said Friday. Six other people were also injured in the explosion.

The debris of a house in the village of Alcanar, Catalonia, is seen Thursday after it collapsed due to an explosion.

One of the suspects arrested in connection with Thursday's Barcelona attack was also detained in Alcanar, Trapero told reporters.

"They were trying to make explosives out of butane gas among other things," Trapero said. He speculated that "some sort of accident" caused the explosion, therefore avoiding greater catastrophe later.

Barcelona and Cambrils attacks: What we know so far

Thwarted by the accidental explosion, and possibly alarmed at the attention it had drawn, it appears that the surviving members of the cell scrambled to mount an alternative plan. The next day at about 5 p.m., a rental van was driven at high speed from Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya deep into the teeming crowds on the city's most famous thoroughfare, Las Ramblas.

"I saw people flying into the air and everyone was running into the shops on either side," witness Ali Shirazinia told CNN.

At least 13 people were killed and 120 injured, 17 of them critically. The driver of the van fled on foot.

The van used in the Barcelona attack was abandoned at the scene, August 18, 2017.

Hours later, as details of the atrocity in Barcelona were still emerging, five attackers drove an Audi A3 into several pedestrians in Cambrils, 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Barcelona, early on Friday morning. Police engaged in a shootout with the attackers, and all five were shot dead, four of them by one officer.

A woman subsequently died from her injuries, Catalan emergency services said, taking the number of dead in both attacks to 14. Six others were injured, three seriously.

Photographs showed the black Audi, flipped upside down with its windows smashed out, being removed from the scene.

Catalan police later said they found an ax and knives in the car, and the attackers had fake explosive belts attached to them. Before being shot they had wounded one person in the face with a knife. Police were investigating whether one of the attackers was the driver of the van used in the Barcelona attack.

Police officers stand near an overturned car onto a platform at the spot where terrorists were intercepted by police in Cambrils, Friday, Aug. 18.

Alex Folch, 28, told CNN he saw the immediate aftermath of the shootout from his holiday apartment on the fifth floor of the Club Nautic Cambrils, on the Consulat de Mar.

He said he saw three people lying on the ground surrounded by police, one with what appeared to be "a metallic kind of belt" around the waist.

Spain was under threat long before attacks, experts say

Folch said he could see snipers on the roof beside him and later heard controlled explosions conducted by police.

The house in Alcanar appears crucial to the investigation. Trapero said several of its residents had hired some of the vehicles used in the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks. He added that "the investigation is centered on identifying those persons who were in that house."

A car that ran over police officers at a checkpoint in Barcelona later on Thursday was unconnected with the attacks, Trapero said. One of the occupants of the car was found to have been stabbed.

Shock and fear in Barcelona

The Catalan government said the Barcelona victims came from 34 countries.

Catalonia attacks: Italian father-of-two is first named victim

The first to be identified was an Italian, Bruno Gulotta, who worked for Tom's Hardware Italia. He was a much-loved colleague with a partner and two young children, the company said. He had been on holiday in Barcelona with his family. The second victim named was another Italian, Luca Rosso.

Belgium's Foreign Ministry spokesman Jose de Pierpont said one Belgian was among those killed in the attack.

A 74-year-old Portuguese woman has also been identified by the Portuguese government as one of the victims in Barcelona.

Las Ramblas reopened Friday morning but reminders of the previous day's horror were all around.

In some outdoor cafés, full glasses of beer and sangria sat out on tables, left behind after people scattered. Overturned chairs and napkins were strewn on the street. Waiters were beginning to pick up the pieces as restaurants opened.

Flowers, candles and messages of solidarity piled up through the day at makeshift shrines along the street.

Las Ramblas: The attack locals feared was coming

Some shocked residents and tourists had come to the normally bustling avenue to pay their respects to the attack victims. Others gathered for a march intended to show unity in the face of fear.

"It was an attack against humanity," Sandra Gregorio said after laying flowers at one of the many memorials that has sprung up. "Look at this street, Barcelonians are not afraid," her boyfriend Marc Guzmán added. "We have to be united, now more than ever."

Hajar Menssouri, a 24-year-old laboratory technician and student, told CNN: "I joined the march to show that fear would not divide us."

Earlier, resident Federico Colmenarejo, 32, walked along Las Ramblas in a daze. His apartment overlooks the street -- and he said a phone call from his grandmother at the time of the attack had saved his life because it had stopped him going out.

"Just to think how is it possible that I cross this street every day on my way to work. I can't believe it. In Barcelona this never happens," he told CNN.