One of the vans used to carry out the murderous rampage at the heart of the city was rented by a man who identified himself as Driss Oukabir, Spanish police said. The white Fiat van was rented in the town of Santa Perpetua de la Mogoda, 16 miles north of Barcelona, it was claimed. Scores of innocent victims were mowed down as a van ploughed down the Spanish city’s hugely popular Las Ramblas shortly after 5pm. After careering off the road, the driver then sped through crowds of tourists for up to 500m, sending pedestrians flying, before coming to a halt outside the kosher Maccabi restaurant. At least 13 people were killed and 100 injured. Spanish reports initially said that Driss Oukabir was being questioned on suspicion of involvement in the attack. But on Thursday night the mayor of Ripoll, the town where he lived, 70 miles north of Barcelona, said that a man identifying himself as Driss Oukabir went to his local police station and reported that his documentation had been stolen. Jordi Munell, the mayor, said that the man had insisted that he had been in Ripoll at the time of the attack and went to the local police station as soon as he saw his images broadcast in the media. Police suspect that Driss Oukabir’s younger brother, named by Spanish media as 18-year-old Moussa, could have been involved.
The older Oukabir was born in Morocco in 1989 and legally resident in Spain, according to media reports. Spanish newspaper El Pais said he was known to police and spent time in prison in Figueres, Catalonia, before being released in 2012. However, in what is believed to be his Facebook profile, he says he was from Marseille, southern France, but living in Ripoll. Anti-terrorism sources had earlier told El Pais that they believed Oukabir arrived in Barcelona from Morocco on August 13. They said he was known to have spent time in Madrid this year and police were attempting to work out where he stayed and who he met there.According to police audio recordings, the driver of the van was 1m 70cm tall, dressed in a white shirt with blue stripes. Police were said to have found a Spanish passport inside the van. The Facebook profile picture of a Driss Oukabir Soprano from Ripoll was changed on Tuesday to one depicting him sunbathing on an unidentified beach. Wearing white headphones, he posed for the picture on a blue towel, which was laid out next to a pink one. The profile states that he has been in a relationship since December 2013 and contains links to more than 700 friends, several of whom were likely relatives who share the same Oukabir surname.
