Spanish police have initiated a search for the van driver who killed 13 people by ploughing into a crowd in Barcelona on August 17, Reuters reported on Saturday. Previously, Spanish media had reported that Moussa Oukabir was the prime suspect in the attack, but he was killed in the police shootout in Cambrils following the attack in Barcelona.

The police in Catalonia are now on the hunt for Moroccan-born Younes Abouyaaqoub, whom Spanish newspaper El Pais has named as the van driver, said BBC. Abouyaaqoub, 22, lived in the town of Ripoll, north of Barcelona.

The police have so far arrested three people in Ripoll and one in Alcanar in connection with planning the attack. Three of those arrested are Moroccans and one is a citizen of Mellila, a Spanish North African enclave.

Officials believe that a terror cell of at least 12 people was operating at a house in Alcanar, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported. The house was being used as a bomb factory. An explosion at the house on August 16 deprived the plotters of explosive material. The cell had been planning a massive attack which would leave hundreds dead, the Spanish newspaper claimed.