Barcelona terror attack: Van driver Yunes Abouyaaqoub shot dead by Catalan police

The man accused of killing at least 14 people when he ploughed a van into pedestrians in Barcelona's popular tourist spot Las Ramblas on Thursday (17 August) has been shot dead by Catalan police.

22-year-old Moroccan national Yunes Abouyaaqoub, the prime suspect in the terror attack, was shot dead in Subirats, an area 25 miles (40km) west of Barcelona on Monday (21 August), hours after police extended a manhunt for the Las Ramblas driver across Europe.

Witnesses told local media that Abouyaaqoub shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is the greatest") when police confronted him.

Catalan police confirmed on Twitter that Abouyaaqoub had been shot. "We confirm that the man shot down in #subirats is Younes Abouyaaqoub, author of the terrorist attack in #barcelona," a tweet on the official page of the Mossos read.

He was reportedly wearing an explosives belt which a source close to the investigation said was fake.

A bomb disposal robot was sent to approach the suspect, police said.

At a press conference earlier today, police said Abouyaaqoub escaped on foot to the outskirts of Barcelona where he hijacked a car. Shortly after the attack, he was captured on CCTV footage walking through a market district.

The driver of the hijacked car, Pau Pérez, was found stabbed in the back seat, becoming the 15th victim of the bloodshed in Barcelona and nearby city Cambrils.

Isis has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Police said that a 12-strong Spanish terror cell had been planning three coordinated attacks using homemade bombs after they found 120 gas canisters at a house in Alcanar, south of Barcelona.