BARCELONA • Spanish police yesterday shot dead the suspected driver of the van that drove into a crowd in Barcelona last Thursday, in a major break in the investigation of last week's terror attacks.

Regional police confirmed that a man wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt had been killed in Subirats, a village about 60km from Barcelona.

Bomb disposal units have been dispatched to the site.

A Europe-wide manhunt had been launched for the fugitive Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22. The Moroccan national was described as dangerous and likely armed.

Police said he had abandoned the van, then fled the scene on foot and stabbed to death a passer-by, hijacking his car to escape the city.

The authorities yesterday raised the death toll to 15 for the vehicle attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

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