has been shot down," police said in an official tweet.

Local media said the man was spotted by a woman in the early afternoon and then fled through vineyards but police managed to find and shoot him on a road near a sewage treatment plant.

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The scene unfolded about 40 km (25 miles) from the spot, close to the FC Barcelona soccer stadium on the outskirts of the city, where police said Abouyaaqoub had abandoned a car he had commandeered during his escape.

Police said Abouyaaqoub first fled Las Ramblas on foot amid the chaos of the attack, then hijacked the car, stabbing the driver, 34-year-old Pau Perez, to death beforecrashing through a police checkpoint.

Abouyaaqoub had been the only one of 12 accomplices still at large. His mother, Hannou Ghanimi, had appealed for him to surrender, saying she would rather see him in prison than end up dead.

Four people have been arrested so far in connection with the attacks: three Moroccans and a citizen of Spain's North African enclave of Melilla. They are currently being taken to the high court in Madrid, which has jurisdiction over terrorism matters.

Abouyaaqoub lived in Ripoll, a town north of Barcelona close to French border.

Islamic State also claimed responsibility for a separate deadly assault which erupted hours after the van attack in the coastal resort town of Cambrils, south of Barcelona.

In Cambrils, a car crashed into passersby and its occupants got out and