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Second Portuguese victim identified after Barcelona attack

candlesPortugal’s Prime Minister, António Costa has confirmed the death of a second Portuguese national resulting from the terror attack in Barcelona last Thursday, August 17th.

The 20-year-old woman had been missing since the attack but fears grew for her safety as her 74-year old Portuguese grandmother, with whom she was on a family reunion shopping trip, was one of the 13 killed after a van was driven through a crowd in Las Ramblas.  A further 120 pedestrians were injured, 17 of whom remain in critical condition.

The bodies of the two Portuguese victims have been handed over to their family and will be transferred to Portugal on Monday on an Air Force flight made available by the government. The bodies later will be buried in Sintra.

The 74-year-old grandmother lived in Greater Lisbon and her 20-year-old granddaughter lived in London.   

On Friday, the Portuguese Secretary of State for the Communities, José Luís Carneiro, said only that one Portuguese national had been killed and that her granddaughter was missing.

Confirmation of the death of the 20-year-old was announced on Saturday, after the body was identified by her the parents, who flew to Barcelona at the request of the authorities.

Spain suffered two terrorist attacks in the Barcelona region on Thursday and Friday, with 14 people killed and 135 wounded.

Both attacks were claimed by the extremist Islamic State group, or ‘Daesh.’

Lisbon Council is strengthening security in the capital's most obvious areas.

"Lisbon City Council is reinforcing the installation of passive safety measures on the public road, aiming to improve the protection in areas with high influx of people," read a statement issued on Sunday, noting that any such solution must not hamper possible rescue operations.

The areas in question are mostly around the tourist hotspots near the Gerónimos monastery.