Barcelona attack live: Police kill five in separate counter-terror operation in Cambrils

Andrew Cadman, the father of missing Australian boy Julian Cadman, is flying to Barcelona tonight to search for his son, the ABC reports.

He said he had spoken to Julian and his mother several hours before the attack.

Sydney bank worker Suria Intan has been seriously injured in the attack and remains in the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona.

She was at the end of a three-week European holiday with three girlfriends.

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Tony Cadman has joined relatives on Facebook appealing for information about Julian Cadman, the Australian 7-year-old missing in Barcelona.

"Julian is 7 years old and was out with [his mother] Jom when they were separated, due to the recent terrorist activity," Mr Cadman wrote. 

Seven-year-old Julian Cadman is missing in Barcelona after Friday morning's terror attacks, his family say.

"My nephew Julian Cadman is missing. Please like and share. We have found Jom and she is serious but stable in hospital," Claire O'Sullivan wrote on Facebook.

"Julian is 7 years old and was out with Jom and they were separated. Please share if you have family or friends in Barcelona."

More to come.

Catalan police have arrested a third person in connection with the terrorist attacks in the town of Ripoll, north of Barcelona.

One of the two men already arrested, Driss Oukabar, was also taken into custody in Ripoll when he reported stolen documents to police, according to the New York Times.

The third man was arrested in Alcanar, the coastal town where a house exploded in what police believe was part of co-ordinated series of attacks. 

A Sydney woman who was caught up in Friday's Barcelona terror attack says she owes her life to a packet of cigarettes.

Sacha Gratton was on Las Ramblas with four friends just minutes before a van mowed down locals and tourists, killing at least 14 people and injuring 100.

"She decided on the spur of the moment that she needed to go to the shop to get a packet of cigarettes," Sacha's mother, Faith Gratton told Fairfax Media.

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"The King will be today in the Plaça de Catalunya of Barcelona to join the minute's silence in solidarity with the victims of the attack," a tweet from the account of Felipe VI said.

The square sits at the bottom of the Las Ramblas boulevard.

Catalan Interior Minister Joaquin Forn has told local radio "there is a connection" between the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils but did not elaborate, London's Daily Telegraph has reported.

Mr Forn confirmed authorities are still searching for the driver of the van that ran down pedestrians in Las Ramblas, killing 16.

Meanwhile, The New York Times has quoted an unnamed counter-terrorism expert briefed on the investigation, who said police believed the initial plot had involved explosives and a large truck. 

Fairfax Media Europe correspondent Nick Miller is on the scene. A heavy police presence patrols the area as the number of reporters grows. But some stallholders are setting up for business right near where the van mowed down pedestrians. 

Catalan Radio journalist Anna Ayala posted these photographs of Las Ramblas the morning after the terrorist attack that killed 16.

• Sixteen people were killed when attackers drove a van down the Las Ramblas mall in Barcelona
• More than 100 were injured
• Five attackers were shot dead in a related incident in the coastal town of Cambrils
• One Australia is unaccounted for
• Two NSW women caught up in the Las Ramblas violence are in hospital in serious but stable conditions
• Two Melbourne men also affected have left hospital
• Islamic State has claimed responsibility
• A house has exploded in the coastal town of Alcanar, in what may be a related incident

Labor MP and former counter-terrorism research fellow Anne Aly says Islamic State was expressing its "malevolent ideology" in low tech, often hard to anticipate ways. 

"Remember, terrorists are not innovators,they are opportunists," she told Perth radio. "With increased security around and decreased ability for them to coordinate in cells or develop IEDs with higher monitoring, with a better intelligence, they are going to seek ways to circumvent security. And an individual, taking a truck and ploughing it into a crowded street or a crowded area can cause just as much damage."

Ms Aly said she was "very confident" in Australia's counter-terrorism authorities.

"We understand from the Catalan authorities that 16 people were killed at Las Ramblas and at least 100 injured," Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said. 

The death toll had been put at 16 earlier in the day but revised down to 13.

Five suspects were killed in the second attack in the town of Cambrils.

One person was killed when a house exploded in the town Alcanar.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has said two women from NSW are in serious but stable conditions in hospital after being injured in the Las Ramblas attack in Barcelona.

Two Melbourne men have been discharged from hospital.

"We are concerned that an Australian remains unaccounted for," Ms Bishop said at a press conference in Melbourne.

"We are working closely with authorities to establish their wherabouts."

The government has updated its Smart Traveller advice to urge travellers in Spain to exercise caution and follow the directions of officials.

"We understand that the terrorist organisation ISIS has claimed responsibility. We condemn in the strongest possible terms these brutal and cowardly attacks."

Those countries include France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina, Venezuela, Belgium, Australia, Hungary, Peru, Romania, Ireland, Greece, Cuba, Macedonia, China, Italy and Algeria, officials have said. 

Spanish media has reported a three-year-old child was among the dead. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop will be delivering a consular update in Melbourne today regarding the violence in Spain. 

Ms Bishop earlier confirmed one Australian woman caught up in the attacks was in a serious but stable condition while two Australian men were also affected. 

Eyewitnesses to the Cambrils attack have told The Guardian they heard a lot of gunfire as police killed five attackers. 

Restaurant worker Markel Artabe, 20, said he saw someone lying on the ground "with a gunshot in the head".

The five terror suspects killed in Cambrils were carrying belts with explosive devices, Catalan authorities have confirmed.

The men were allegedly attempting to run down pedestrians with a car.

"The alleged terrorists were in an Audi A3 and apparently knocked down several people before coming across a police patrol and a shootout ensued," a regional government spokesman said.

Seven people, including one police officer, were injured. One person is in a critical condition and another is in a serious condition. The police officer suffered minor injuries.

Police say the Cambrils attack is linked to the Barcelona rampage in an action designed to target tourists.

The two Victorian men caught up in the Barcelona terror attack are safely back at their hotel, Premier Daniel Andrews says.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said two Victorians were "affected" when a van plunged into a crowd, killing 13 and injuring more than 100 others, but Mr Andrews said the two men from Melbourne's west "are not in a serious condition".

"The Department of Premier and Cabinet have been in touch with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the two Victorians who have been caught up in this are back in their hotel, that's the advice I have," Mr Andrews told reporters on Friday.