Barcelona van attacker may still be at large, say Spanish police

T TV Sunday 20/August/2017 12:46 PM
By: Times News Service

The driver of a van that plowed into pedestrians on La Rambla in Barcelona, killing 13, may still be at large, Spanish police say, denying earlier reports that he had been shot dead at a Catalan seaside resort.
The driver of the van that plowed into crowds in Barcelona may still be on the run, Spanish police say - denying earlier media reports that he had been shot dead in a Catalan seaside resort.
13 people were killed when the van sped along La Rambla, a famous boulevard popular with tourists, on Thursday.
It is the latest in a string of attacks across Europe using vehicles as weapons in which nearly 130 people have died in France, Germany, Britain, Sweden and Spain over the past 14 months.
Hours after the carnage on La Rambla, police shot dead five people in the Catlan resort of of Cambrils after they drove a car at pedestrians and police officers.
One woman was killed in that attack. The assailants were armed with axes and knives and wearing fake explosive belts, police said.
But Spain's Catalonia police chief Josep Lluis Trapero said he could not confirm the driver on La Rambla was one of those killed.
He said it is still a possibility, but is "losing weight".
Trapero had earlier said the investigation was focused on a house in Alcanar, southwest of Barcelona.
That property was razed in an explosion shortly before midnight on Wednesday.
Police believe the house was being used to plan a large scale attack in Barcleona, possibly using a large number of butane gas canisters stored there.
The accidental explosion forcing the conspirators to scale down their plans and launch more rudimentary attacks, Trapiro said.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. Three have been identified and are still at large.
La Rambla the scene of mourning on Friday night. A vigil to honour the dead.
That as victims continue to recover. Of 126 people injured in Barcelona and Cambrees, 65 are still in hopsital - 17 in a critical condition.