Five young people die in Spain apartment block fire

Five young people have died in a fire that broke out in a storage space in a residential block of flats in north-east Spain.

Residents raised the alarm about the fire in a five-storey building in the small town of Manlleu, about 80km (50 miles) north of Barcelona, shortly after 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday, Catalonia's fire brigade said. Four other people were slightly hurt in the blaze.

The identities of those who died is not yet known but reports said they include children and none of them lived in the building.

It is not clear why they could not escape the storage room, which is on the upper floor, according to firefighters. An investigation is under way into the fire's cause.

The grandfather of one of the young victims told La Vanguardia that the boys used the storage room, which is thought to have been converted into a living space, to meet each other.

No official details have been confirmed about the victim but witnesses told local media that they were all under 18, and one was as young as 12.

The local authority said it was providing support to the victims and it declared three days of mourning.

Catalan President Salvador Illa Roca said he was shocked by the deaths and expressed his deepest condolences to families and friends.