BARCELONA: A fire ripped through an abandoned bank occupied by squatters in central Barcelona on Tuesday, killing four people, including a baby and a three-year-old boy, Spanish firefighters said.

“While we were battling the fire, we found four people. Emergency services tried to revive them, but unfortunately they failed, they could not do anything to save them,” the head of the firefighting operation, Angel Lopez, told reporters.

A neighbour who lives in a flat above the bank said people trapped on the premises had been screaming, pleading for help after the blaze broke out. “It is a huge shame because there were two small children that we saw around here,” Miquel Guimera said.