Police shoot dead five men wearing bomb belts in a second terror attack in Spain overnight

Seven people were injured in the coastal town of Cambrils - police say five suspects were carrying bomb belts and had run over civilians with a car, police said.

In the wake of the carnage several controlled blasts were carried out in the area, with police later saying the attackers had been wearing explosive belts.

Mossos, Catalonia's police force, said four of the attackers were shot dead at the scene and later confirmed a fifth had died of his injuries.

Of the six civilians caught up in the attack two were said to be in a serious condition.

Investigators said they are working on the theory that the attacks in Cambrils and Barcelona, as well as an explosion in the town of Alancar on Wednesday, are linked.

A major manhunt for the suspected driver of the van that mowed down holidaymakers and locals in Barcelona, around 68 miles east of Cambrils is continuing.

Shortly after 5pm local time on Thursday a white Fiat van tore through Las Ramblas, a major tourist attraction packed with families and holidaymakers, in a horror described as "jihad terrorism'' by the country's prime minister Mariano Rajoy.

The van drove on to the pavement, swerving among pedestrians in a crowded area, and was "clearly a terror attack intended to kill as many people as possible'', senior police official Josep Lluis Trapero said.

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest on Spanish soil since more than 190 people died in the Madrid train bombs in 2004.

According to the Catalan regional government citizens of some 24 countries were among those killed and injured, with one Belgian national confirmed to have died.

Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "sickened'' by the incident and the Foreign Office was trying to determine if there were British victims.

Authorities have warned that the death-toll may rise, with 15 people receiving treatment for serious injuries.

Two suspects, a Spanish national from Melilla and a Moroccan, were arrested and taken into custody in the wake of the attack.

The arrests were made in the northern Catalan town of Ripoll and in Alcanar, the site of an explosion on Wednesday night which killed one person and is thought to be linked to the van attack, authorities said.

The whereabouts of the van driver were unclear after police said he made off unarmed.

There were also reports that detectives believe two vans were used, one for the attack and a second as a getaway vehicle.

Hours after Thursday's attack, police shot and killed a man who was in a car that hit two officers at a traffic blockade on the outskirts of Barcelona. However, Mr Trapero said it was not linked to the van attack.

Witnesses to the attack described how the van hurtled through crowds without slowing down, sending scores of people scattering and many taking shelter in nearby shops.

Lawyer and University of Glasgow rector Aamer Anwar was there...

An Irish family was caught up in the terror attack in Barcelona.

The mother and father were originally from the Philippines and are naturalised Irish citizens while their two children were both born in Ireland.

Their injuries are understood to be non life-threatening.

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs is assisting the family