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Barcelona incident: Suspicious package found on bus being investigated, says Catalonia Government official

It was later found to be a false alarm

Will Worley
Monday 21 August 2017 13:29 BST
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((AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

A major street in central Barcelona was evacuated today after a suspicious package was found on a bus.

Bomb squad officers investigated the bag but it was later found to be harmless.

The bus was on Pelai street, very close to La Rambla, where just days ago a vehicle ramming attack killed 13 people and injured more than 100.

Mass held for Barcelona terror victims as manhunt continues

TV footage showed the road been evacuated and cordoned off by police. Officers urged passers-by to move away from the area.

But after the bag was investigated and found to just contain personal belongings, police said "normality in the area will be restored".

Tensions remain high in Spain, following the Barcelona attack and another in Cambrils, in which one woman was killed.

A total of fifteen people were killed over several hours of bloodshed in Catalonia.

Moroccon suspect Younes Abouyaaquoub, 22, believed to have been the driver of the van, is still at large.

It is feared he may have escaped to France and police forces across Europe have been placed on alert.

Wanted posters with his Abouyaaquoub's photo and description have been relesed by Catalan police.

He is thought to have fled from the carnage at Las Ramblas on foot and later stabbed a man to death for his car, using it to escape and later abandoning it.

The motorist's death brought the total number of fatalities to 15.

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