Bad bomb kept Spain toll lower

AN ACCIDENTAL explosion and flawed bomb construction prevented more destruction planned by the cell of ISISclaimed terrorists who killed 14 people and wounded more than 120 in a pair of attacks in Spain, according to authorities.

A blast in the town of Alcanar on Wednesday evening was the result of deadly plans being launched by the group who would later run over crowds of tourists and locals at Barcelona’s Las Ramblas on Thursday, Catalonian officials said that Friday.

Thirteen people died in that van attack, with another person killed and six more added to the list of injured, when the cell tried to replicate the chaos in the resort town of Cambrils hours later.

Five suspects were fatally shot during their second attempt to mow down innocents, according to police, with local media identifying three of them as Moussa Oukabir, 17, Said Aalla, 19, and Mohamed Hychami, 24(insets, top to bottom).

Authorities said the attackers were carrying knives and wearing fake suicide vests when they were shot.

It was not clear where the cell planned to use the explosives that blew up Wednesday night.

Oukabir, from the upscale Catalonian town of Ripoll, is believed to have been the driver of a Fiat van behind the massacre in Barcelona, with his older brother reportedly telling investigators that his documents were stolen to rent the vehicle.

The Islamic State claimed the eruption of violence via its new agency hours after the first attack on Thursday, though it was not immediately clear what if any links the suspects had to international terror organizations or how large their cell was.