4 Irish citizens of Pinoy descent injured in Barcelona attack

MANILA (Updated) -- The Philippine government joined the international community in condemning the terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain on Thursday, August 17, that left 13 people dead and more than a hundred injured, including four Irish citizens of Filipino descent.

Malacanang, in a statement, offered sympathy for the victims of the suspected terror attack.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the innocent victims who perished and those who got injured in Barcelona," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

"We are one with the peace-loving people of the international community in condemning this latest attack in Spain on Thursday that left at least 13 people dead and injured more than 100 others," he added.

In a separate statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the Philippines "condemns in the strongest terms" the attack.

According to reports from the Philippine Honorary Consul in Barcelona, at least 13 people were killed and more than 100 others injured after a van crashed into pedestrians in Barcelona's Las Ramblas tourist district.

"We stand in solidarity with the people of Catalonia and all of Spain and the rest of the world as we fight this common scourge," Cayetano said as he expressed Manila's sympathies to the Spanish government and to the families of the victims.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reportedly said the latest incident was a "Jihadist attack."

The Islamic State group, in a statement carried by its media arm Aamaq news agency, has claimed responsibility for the attack in Barcelona.

The group claimed the attack was carried by its "soldiers."

The DFA did not release the names of the four members of the Irish family of Filipino descent but said the Philippine Honorary Consulate went to the hospital to check on them.

The DFA said Honorary Consul Jordi Puig Roches reported that the mother and her daughter have been released from the hospital but that the father and his son are still under observation and are being assisted by the Irish Honorary Consul there.

The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Madrid and the Honorary Consulate in Barcelona have been in touch with authorities and leaders of the Filipino Community to make sure that the 20,000 other Filipino residents of the northeastern Spanish city are safe.

The terror attack came two days after Secretary Cayetano called on the more than 10 million Filipinos abroad to exercise more vigilance in the wake of terrorist incidents all over the world. (SunStar Philippines)