A suspect in the Barcelona terror attack has been arrested, police in Catalonia have said.
They explained that a man was detained in Ripoll – which is northwest of Barcelona – in connection with the killings.
It was suggested the man – thought to be a 34-year-old Moroccan national linked to the wanted Moussa Oukabir – could have been the driver of the Ford Focus that rammed into police officers at a checkpoint outside Barcelona after the initial Las Ramblas van attack.
At the time, it was reported the driver had been shot dead by police.
It was suggested the man could have been the driver of the Ford Focus that rammed into police officers at a checkpoint outside Barcelona (pictured) after the initial van attack
Moussa Oukabir, 18, who lives in Barcelona, has been named as a suspect in the Barcelona attack after reportedly stealing his brother’s documents to rent a van
But it has now been revealed that the owner of the vehicle – not the driver – was found dead inside after being stabbed, possibly in a carjacking.
Catalonia’s interior minister, Joaquim Form, told local radio that the car was smashed into the police checkpoint on the Avenida Diagonal before being dumped in Sant Just Desvern.
Two officers were hurt and one suffered a broken leg as police opened fire in an attempt to stop the car.
Josep Lluis Trapero, head of police in Catalonia, said the dead man was Spanish and not connected to the terror attacks.
A hired van (pictured), registered to rental company Telefurgo, rammed into scores of people in Barcelona
At least 13 people were killed and dozens injured after the van ploughed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s busiest tourist area
Pictured: Armed policemen in a cordoned-off area after a van ploughed into a crowd in Barcelona
Thirteen people were killed and more than 100 wounded when a van was driven into walkers on the busy Las Ramblas street in Barcelona.
In a second attack eight hours later, a car rammed into people in Cambrils – about 75 miles south of Barcelona – and wounded six people before the five attackers were shot dead.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the attacks.
Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont warned earlier today that a suspect was still on the run after the killings.
Asked on Spanish radio whether an alleged ‘terrorist’ was still at large and dangerous, he responded: ‘On the run yes, as for whether he is capable of harm, we don’t know at the moment.’
But he warned that ‘these types of people have already demonstrated that they have the will to harm whatever happens.’
A major hunt is under way for Moussa Oukabir, 18, who is said to have stolen his older brother’s identity documents to rent the van which later ploughed into pedestrians on Las Ramblas.
The teenager, said to be a Spanish national of Moroccan heritage, had previously written about ‘killing infidels’ in a chilling online post.
His brother Driss Oukabir, 28, was initially named as a suspect but later handed himself to a police station in Ripoll, a town to the north of Barcelona, not far from the French border.
Authorities in Spain believe the terror cell may have had up to 12 members. Five were shot dead by police during the second attack last night, another suspect was killed in an explosion in Alcanar. ISIS have claimed responsibility.