Spanish police have identified Driss Oukabir as the man suspected by police of carrying out a terrorist attack that killed at least 13 people in Barcelona's Las Ramblas, according to newspaper El Pais.

Scores of people have been injured in the "massive crash", according to police, with local media reporting that the driver fled the vehicle on foot after the crash.

Read more Barcelona terror attack live updates: Two dead after van ploughs into pedestrians on Las Ramblas

Oukabir is believed to be of Moroccan-French descent and born in Marseilles but now living in the town of Ripoll, outside Barcelona.

Police urging people to stay away from the area around Plaça de Catalunya, the city's central square where the main train station is located.

The first images from the scene have shown emergency services on the streets with people running from the scene.

Steven Turner, who works in the area, told the BBC: "People in my office saw a van ramming into people on La Ramblas. I saw about three or four people lying on the ground."

"There are lots of ambulances and armed police with assault rifles around now," he added.

Van crashes into dozens of people in Barcelona: police https://t.co/W35f3HX4NR pic.twitter.com/QTzSX5ybfI — Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 17, 2017