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Thirteen people died and dozens were injured when a van ploughed into crowds in Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas area, Catalan police and local officials say, according to BBC.

The rented vehicle sped along the pedestrian area that is popular with tourists, mowing down people and sending others fleeing for cover.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said it was a "jihadist attack".

As security forces hunted for the van's driver, who was seen escaping on foot, police said they had killed five attackers on Thursday night in Cambrils, a town south of Barcelona, to thwart a separate attack using explosive belts, Reuters reports.

Six civilians and a police officer were injured in Cambrils when the attackers ran them over in a car, before police shot them dead and carried out controlled explosions. Police said the Cambrils incident was linked to the van attack in Barcelona.

Before the van plowed into the tree-lined walkway of Las Ramblas, one person was killed in an explosion in a house in a separate town southwest of Barcelona, police said. Residents there were preparing explosives, a police source added.

Police said they had arrested a Moroccan and a man from Spain's north African enclave of Melilla, though neither was the van driver. A third man was arrested in the town of Ripoll on Friday in connection with the attack.

It was still not clear how many people had been involved in the van attack and other incidents on Thursday.

The injured and dead came from 24 different countries, the Catalan government said on Friday in a statement, ranging from France and Germany to Pakistan and the Philippines. Spanish media said several children were killed.

So-called Islamic State has said it was behind the van attack in Las Ramblas, saying in a brief statement carried by its Amaq news agency that it was carried out by "Islamic State soldiers". The group gave no further evidence or details to back this claim.