Suspected van driver in Barcelona terrorist attack shot dead by Spanish police

Younes Abouyaaqoub, the man suspected of driving the van in a terrorist attack in Barcelona last Thursday that left 13 people dead and over 100 people injured, has been shot dead by police in the  town of Subirats, an hour from Barcelona, regional police have confirmed.

He was shot from a distance of between 10 to 15 meters, police sources said.

They added that he appeared to be wearing an explosives vest, but which turned out to be fake.

The 22-year-old was the subject of an intensive search after being identified by authorities as the likely driver in the attack.

Authorities in Catalonia had called on the public to help with the search, distributing flyers describing the physical appearance of the 22-year-old who was born in Morocco but grew up in the small town of Ripoll, in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

The terrorist attack in Barcelona was the worst in Spain since the Madrid train bombings in 2004, when 193 people were killed and around 1,700 were injured.

English version by George Mills.