Spanish police say they have shot dead five suspected terrorists in the coastal town of Cambrils after they drove into pedestrians in what appeared to be the second vehicle attack to hit the country in 24 hours day.

The suspects were travelling in an Audi A3 when they injured seven people in the popular seaside town, 75 miles (120km) south of Barcelona.

They bailed out of their car clutching knives after their vehicle ploughed into crowds along the seafront promenade and overturned. They were then shot dead by police.

The attack in the early hours of Friday (18 August) came around eight hours after 13 people were killed and 100 others injured when a van mowed down pedestrians in Barcelona's Las Ramblas district.

Isis claimed responsibility for the Barcelona attack, which bore similarities to previous vehicle attacks in London, Berlin and Nice.

The Catalan government said the two suspected terror attacks are linked.

While the suspect in the Barcelona vehicle attack – Moroccan-born 18-year-old Moussa Oukabir – is still at large, the five individuals said to have been involved in the Cambrils terror attack have all been shot dead.

Four of the suspected attackers were killed in the firefight with police at the scene while the fifth later died of his wounds at a hospital. All had been wearing fake suicide belts.

Tourists described running for their lives and hiding in seafront bars as police opened fire in the aftermath of the attack.

Holidaymaker Fitzroy Davies, from Wolverhampton, told of how one of the suspects got up after being shot and was "ranting and raving".

"He must have been on drugs. He was taunting, smiling, laughing and he carried on walking to the police, and then they gave it to him again, a couple more shots and then he fell to the ground," he told MailOnline.

While those shot dead have not been named, police believe they were part of a terror cell comprised of up to 12 people. Officers said the terror cell was determined to "kill as many people as possible".

The group has been linked to a house in the small town of Alcanar, 120 miles south of Barcelona, which may have acted as their base.

A huge explosion at the house on Wednesday is now thought to have been the result of a failed attempt by the cell to build a bomb.

An initial blast destroyed the house, killing one and injuring another; a second explosion injured police and firefighters attending the scene.

Police found 20 canisters of butane and propane gas inside the house in what could have been the components of a makeshift explosive device.

Police are now hunting the rest of the terror cell.

"The priority right now is work out the identity of these people, to prove and show the relationship between the different people involved, those that took the van and those that have been able to escape," Catalan government official Joaquim Forn said.

Three people have so far been arrested, including Driss Oukabir, 28, who is said to be the brother of Barcelona terror suspect Moussa Oukabir, and his friend.

The third person arrested was an individual injured in the Alcanar house explosion, El Periodico reported.