Parents and two children dead after building burns down in Bilbao

A FAMILY of four, including two children aged three and five, have died in Bilbao after a devastating house fire.

Nine people have also been hospitalised, with two in a critical condition, while 12 were treated at the scene for minor burns or smoke inhalation.

The three-storey residential building in the Zorroza neighbourhood of the Basque city was completely gutted, with the danger of collapse complicating removal of the bodies.

An investigation has been launched to discover the cause of the blaze, which broke out at 6.30am.

It was extinguished two hours later, but there have been difficulties identifying the victims since not all are registered with Spanish authorities.

A spokesman from the local residents’ association said that the disaster “had been coming” in a run-down district inhabited mostly by Romani people and immigrants.