Second vehicle attack: five terror suspects 'wearing suicide vests' shot dead in Cambrils
Our Foreign Staff,The Telegraph
Residents of the Spanish seaside resort of Cambrils fled in terror in the early hours of Friday after five terrorists wearing suicide vests launched the second ramming attack in the country in a matter of hours.
At least six people were hurt when the attackers drove into pedestrians before being shot dead by security forces, just hours after a similar attack in nearby Barcelona.
The Audi A3 car rammed into people on the seaside promenade of the tourist city 74 miles south of Barcelona, where a van had earlier sped into a street packed full of tourists, killing 13 people and injuring around 100 others.
Police said the suspects in Cambrils carried bomb belts, which were detonated by a police bomb squad.
Barcelona terror attack, in pictures
Media reports said a car crashed into a police vehicle and nearby civilians and police shot the attackers, one brandishing a knife. Police did not immediately say how the attack was being carried out.
A police officer and five civilians were injured and two were in serious condition. Police were working on the theory that the Cambrils and Barcelona attacks were connected, as well as a Wednesday night explosion in the town of Alcanar in which one person was killed..
"The alleged terrorists were in an Audi A3 and apparently knocked down several people before coming across a police patrol and a shoot-out ensued," said a spokesman for the regional government of Catalonia, where Cambrils is located in Spain's northeast.
Markel Artabe, a 20-year-old restaurant worker, said he was on the seaside promenade when he heard what he initially thought were fireworks, but soon realised were gunshots.
He said he saw someone lying on the ground "with a gunshot in the head". The victim's friends were crying out "help", he added.
Joan Marc Serra Salinas, a 21-year-old waiter, said he heard many gunshots.
"And shouting. And more shouting. I jumped onto the beach and didn't move," he said.
Police said they were "working on the hypothesis that the terrorists shot dead in Cambrils could be linked to what happened in Barcelona".
The attack in Cambrils happened as security forces hunted for the driver of the van used in the Barcelona rampage, who was seen escaping on foot.
Police announced the arrest of two suspects over the Barcelona attack, identified as a Spaniard and a Moroccan, but said the driver was still on the run.
"We're united in grief," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a televised address after rushing to Barcelona.
"Above all we're united in the firm intention to defeat those who want to take our values and way of life from us."
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