At least 13 people have died and 50 have been injured after a white van ploughed into a crowd of people in Las Ramblas area of Barcelona, in what Catalan police say is a potentially ongoing terrorist attack.
Catalan’s interior minister confirmed the latest death toll from the attack on an area popular with tourists following various reports on the number of casualties.
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Two armed men were also reported to have entered a restaurant near the site of the crash. Catalan police have dismissed reports of hostages being held up in a bar in the city centre.
Police confirmed they have arrested a man they are treating as a suspect in the attack.
They have also released a pictures of the man who allegedly rented the van used in the attack.
Spanish media have named him as Driss Oukabir, who is a described as a man in his twenties believed to be born in Morocco.
A second suspect has been arrested, according to local reports but this remains unconfirmed by police.
A second van linked to the attack has been found in the small town of Vic about 69 kilometres away from Barcelona, authorities have said.
The protocols for a terror attack have been activated.
The van entered the pedestrian street from Placa de Catalunya and reportedly zigzagged across the street before crashing into a kiosk on La Rambla.
The El Pais newspaper reported that the driver of the vehicle had fled on foot and that police are looking for a man about 1.70 metres tall, wearing a white and blue stripped shirt.
People are being evacuated from Las Ramblas area as police have launched a manhunt.
Emergency services are urging people to avoid the area and requested the closure of nearby train and metro stations.
Ambulances and bomb disposal crews had gathered en masse at the scene.
