An outnumbered police officer shot dead four of the five terrorists who attacked the seaside city of Cambrils last night, saving his injured partner’s life, according to a dramatic account of the shootout.

The officers were carrying out a routine check at a roundabout near the seafront of Cambrils when the terrorists launched their attack, which, it was confirmed today, killed one woman.

Their white Audi A3, coming from the direction of the city, ploughed through four pedestrians before smashing into the police car and overturning. The crash left one officer with a broken tibia and an injured head.

According to a report in the La Vanguardia newspaper, the five men got out of the overturned vehicle, armed with knives and axes, and wearing false explosives.

The overturned car used in the attack in CambrilsCredit: LLUIS GENE/AFP

The hero police office shot down four of the terrorists and the fifth fled in the direction of a nearby park, stabbing a pedestrian in the face with a knife. He was gunned down by a separate police officer.

The chief of Mossa, the Catalan police force, confirmed that one officer had killed the four terrrorists.

Josep Luis Trapero told reporters at a press conference: "To kill four people, even if you are a professional, is not easy to digest."

Video footage has emerged of one of the terrorists taunting police before being shot down.

A British tourist told how families and residents were ordered to take cover as bullets tore through the air in a scene he described as being like "watching a horror film".

A total of five civilians were injured in the attack with a sixth dying from her injuries in hospital.

Cambrils is tourist city 74 miles south of Barcelona, where a van had earlier sped into a street packed full of tourists, killing 13 people and injuring around 100 others.

Police said the suspects in Cambrils carried bomb belts, which were detonated by a police bomb squad.

Earlier in Barcelona a van had sped into a street packed full of tourists, killing 13 people and injuring around 100 others. One tourist told how families and residents were ordered to take cover as bullets tore through the air in a scene he described as being like "watching a horror film".

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A terrorist heads towards police armed with a knifeCredit: Sky News

A total of five civilians were injured in the attack with a sixth dying from her injuries in hospital.

Cambril is tourist city 74 miles south of Barcelona, where a van had earlier sped into a street packed full of tourists, killing 13 people and injuring around 100 others.

Police said the suspects in Cambrils carried bomb belts, which were detonated by a police bomb squad.

Earlier in Barcelona a van had sped into a street packed full of tourists, killing 13 people and injuring around 100 others.

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