BREAKING...UPDATED

BREAKING NEWS: At least 13 dead and dozens injured in Barcelona terror attack after van crashes into pedestrians in Las Ramblas tourist district before 'two gunmen take hostages at restaurant'

At least 13 people have been killed and dozens injured after a van in Barcelona ploughed into pedestrians before two men entered a restaurant with guns.

Pictures and video emerging from the scene show armed police and paramedics rushing to Las Ramblas, a busy tree-lined promenade in the centre of the city.  

Horrifying footage from the scene shows dozens of victims lying injured on the floor. 

Police have confirmed that 32 people are injured, with Catalonia's interior minister Joaquim Forn saying it is 'very possible' that the number of dead will rise because of the 'very serious' wounds to victims.

Gunfire was heard at the Corte Ingles store in the area after police announced a 'massive crash'. 

Police officers were said to be negotiating with two attackers in a Turkish restaurant where they have taken hostages. 

Officers were also searching for a second van the attackers may have hired as a getaway vehicle.

The civil guard has said the van used in the attack was rented by a man named Driss Oukabir, in the town of Santa Perpetua de la Mogada, El Pais reports.

Two armed men entrenched in Barcelona bar after van crash - Spanish media

MADRID (Reuters) - Two armed men have entrenched themselves in a bar in Barcelona's city centre after a van mowed down dozens of people, El Periodico newspaper reported on Wednesday.

El Periodico reported gunfire in the area of La Boqueria Market, although it did not cite the source of the information.

It was not immediately clear that the men were the drivers of the van.

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Follow-on attack against police:

per Fox a white Focus did not stop at a checkpoint, rammed a police officer, got out, fired at police, then took off.

Subway system in Barcelona shut down.

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Per Fox/Catherine Herridge the second van was supposed to be used in the attack as well but wasn't.

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Second van linked to Barcelona attack found in town of Vic

MADRID (Reuters) - A second van linked to an attack in Barcelona on Thursday has been found in the small town of Vic in Catalonia, local authorities there said on Twitter.

Police had cordoned off the area and were inspecting the vehicle, the city council said. Another van earlier mowed down crowds in a busy district in central Barcelona, killing at least 13 people according to local media.

Spanish media earlier reported that a second van had been rented as a getaway car by attackers.

AOW here with an update indicating that another vehicle and occupants involved in the terror attack in Las Rambla in Barcelona were stopped several miles away at a police checkpoint:

...19:00 There are conflicting reports from Spanish media on the status of the person shot by security forces in Sant Just Desvern after running over police at a checkpoint. Some outlets say the suspect was injured, others say he was shot dead.

[...]

18:43 Police have confirmed that police exchanged fire with the driver of a Ford Focus that failed to stop at a police checkpoint.

18:38 La Vanguardia and TV-3 are reporting that one of the suspects has died in a shootout with police....

La Rambla, which dates back to the Middle Ages as a marketplace, is a major tourist area in Barcelona. La Rambla on a typical day:

The poet Federico García Lorca referred to La Rambla as "the only street in the world which I wish would never end."