An apartment fire in northwestern Spain kills 4 people, including 3 children

VIGO, Spain (AP) — Three children and an adult died Wednesday and nine people were injured in a fire in an apartment building believed to be occupied by squatters in Spain’s northwestern city of Vigo, officials said.

Spain’s state news agency Efe said the dead included a woman and three of her children, but officials did not immediately confirm that. Efe said the father and another child were among the injured.

Vigo Mayor Abel Caballero confirmed three children and an adult died in the fire.

Pedro Blanco, the national government’s representative in the surrounding region of Galicia, said the building’s owners reported that the apartments had been occupied by squatters.

He said police were investigating the cause of the fire, which started around 4 a.m. Blanco said the four died from inhaling toxic fumes.

Officials said some 30 people lived in the five-story building.

Medics evacuated a firefighter and eight other people to hospitals, emergency services for the Galicia region said. One child was among three people in serious condition, they said.

The town declared three days of mourning for the victims.