Police have shot and killed the suspected van driver who left 13 people dead in the terror attack on Barcelona.

Younes Abouyaaquob was wearing a fake suicide belt when he was shot by officers in Subirats, a municipality 20 miles west of the city.

The Spanish bomb squad sent a robot to inspect his body but concluded the explosives were not real.

El Pais newspaper claimed the 22-year-old shouted "Allahu Akbar" before he was shot.

A number of knives were found on his body - which has now been taken away.


Image: Abouyaaqoub was pictured on CCTV fleeing the attack on La Ramblas (centre)

Catalan authorities posted on Twitter: "We confirm that the man shot down in #subirats is Younes Abouyaaqoub, author of the terrorist attack in #barcelona."

El Mundo reported that a witness had spotted the suspect near a petrol station and tipped off police.

We confirm that the man shot down in #subirats is Younes Abouyaaqoub, author of the terrorist attack in #barcelona — Mossos (@mossos) August 21, 2017

The daughter of a vineyard owner also revealed her father had alerted police after seeing a car cross their property at high speed - even though the vineyard was closed off.

Roser Venura said officers had told them to immediately leave the plantation and added: "We heard a helicopter flying around and many police cars coming toward the gas station."

Image: Police shot and killed Abouyaaquob in an area about 20 miles west of Barcelona

Sky News Correspondent Mark White, who is at the scene, said police cordoned off the area and told people to stay indoors in case Abouyaaqoub was not alone.

Authorities said the 12 suspects in the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks have now either been arrested or killed.

Police, who had been searching Europe-wide for Abouyaaqoub for four days, said earlier that he had killed another man while stealing a car to make his escape from Las Ramblas on Thursday.

Speeding Barcelona terror van caught on camera

Four men remain in custody accused of links to the attacks.

One of them is Mohamed Chemlal, 20, a suspected bombmaker, who survived a blast at the gang's base in Alcanar a day before the attack.

Image: Dozens of gas canisters were found at the terror cell's base in Alcanar

Image: Abdelbaki es Satty shared a cell with a man jailed for his role in the Madrid attacks

Police said they had hoarded gas canisters and were planning to use them, but had to abandon the plan after an apparent accidental explosion.

Three people are believed to have died in the blast, with authorities saying on Monday they had "solid evidence" that imam Abdelbaki es Satty was among them.

:: Imam had links to 2004 Madrid bomber

He is thought to have recruited the men who carried out the attacks and also had links to one of the 2004 Madrid bombers.