The gorgeous city of Barcelona played host to one of its ugliest days in recent memory, as a spate of consecutive terror attacks rocked Spain in the last 24 hours.
On Thursday at 5pm (Barcelona time), a van drove into a crowd walking along the tourist hotspot of Las Ramblas, a stretch of pedestrian mall in the heart of the city. The vehicular rampage left 13 people dead and over 100 wounded.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has since assured the public that it has received no reports of Singaporeans directly affected by or injured in the incident, adding that it’ll continue to work with authorities in Barcelona to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, Singaporeans in the city are strongly advised to let their family and friends know that they’re safe, and update them about their whereabouts.
“Singapore strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain on 17 August 2017 that killed and injured many innocent people,” MFA wrote.
“We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with the people of Spain at this difficult time.”
Hours after the van mowed down people in Las Ramblas, a man was killed after he attempted to drive through a police roadblock in Sant Just Desvern, a town on the outskirts of Barcelona. Hours after that, another attack was conducted in Cambrils, a coastal town 120km south of Barcelona — alleged terrorists drove an Audi A3 into pedestrians, injuring six civilians and one police officer.
Authorities have so far arrested three suspects connected to the attacks, while police have killed five others. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, but the claims have yet to be verified.
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