Five people killed in apartment block blaze in Barcelona, Spain - witnesses say victims were all children

Five people have died and five others suffered light injuries in northeastern Spain in a fire that broke out in an apartment building, regional emergency services said.

The fire started in the storage room of a five-story apartment block in Manlleu, a town north of Barcelona, regional authorities in Catalonia said.

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.

For reasons not yet known, the victims could not escape the attic storage room, authorities said. What caused the blaze also was not yet known. Catalan police said the five dead were all young people and that they did not live in the building.

The identities of those who died is not yet known, 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 families of the victims and it declared three days of mourning.

The identities of the injured people are also unknown, but they are thought to be older.

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