Barcelona: Australia stands in solidarity with Spain, Turnbull says

Malcolm Turnbull says the deadly attack in Barcelona’s popular Las Ramblas tourist strip shows there is no place for set and forget on national security.

At least 16 people are dead and dozens are injured after a van mounted the kerb and ploughed into pedestrians in Barcelona’s popular Las Ramblas tourist strip, in an incident which is being treated as a terrorist attack.

Follow live as this story unfolds.

• What we know:

  • 16 people are dead and about 100 more injured after a van mounted the kerb in on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas tourist strip
  • One NSW woman in serious but stable condition in hospital, two Australian men also affected, Foreign Minister says
  • Two men arrested in relation to incident, which is being treated as a terrorist attack, but police say neither was the driver of the vehicle
  • The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack
  • Death toll expected to rise, official says

  • Residents of house where explosion killed one were preparing explosives: police source

    Residents of a house in Catalonia, where an explosion linked to the Barcelona van attack killed one person, were preparing explosives using gas cylinders, a Catalan police source said.

    Police said earlier that the explosion, about 100 kilometres south-west of Barcelona in the town of Alcanar, was related to the van attack, which so far has left 16 people dead.
    

    Tegan Taylor 4 minutes ago

  • 8 minutes ago

    ‘Stay indoors’, Catalan police advise people in coastal town

    Police in Spain’s Catalonia district are warning people to stay inside as there is an operation in Cambrils, about two hours’ drive down the coast from Barcelona.

    Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has pledged to remain vigilant on terrorism threat in the wake of the attack in Barcelona.

    We stand in absolute resolute solidarity with the people of Spain in the fight against Islamist terrorism. Spain is a partner in the anti-Daesh Coalition in the Middle East, and of course, our intelligence agencies work closely with Spanish authorities as we do with many, many other nations. This is a global battle against terrorism.

    So we have seen, of course, how deadly vehicle attacks can be.

    We’ve seen it recently in London, of course, in the Borough Market attack and of course, tragically in Australia in the attack on the Bourke Street Mall.

    There is no place for set and forget on national security. Every time there is an incident, whether it is abroad or at home, we learn from it and we continue to refine and advance and improve our ability to keep Australians safe.

Source: Barcelona live blog: Australia stands in solidarity with Spain, Turnbull says – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)