The fire broke out ten minutes from Benidorm in Spain (Picture: Getty)
Three people have died and another 15 have been injured in a fire at a property near the popular holiday resort of Benidorm in Spain.
Two adults and a minor said to be from the same family lost their lives in the blaze which started around 2.15am this morning.
Fire broke out on the 11th floor of an apartment building, with a woman heard screaming in Spanish ‘Help, help please’.
The three people who died are believed to have been in the flat where the flames firsttook hold.
It was not immediately clear this morning if the woman was one of the victims.
A man could also be heard yelling in agonising footage published by an onlooker.
The other casualties affected by the fire suffered smoke inhalation. Seven are women aged from 24 to 67 and the other are men aged from 13 to 57.
Nationalities of the victims have not yet been revealed.
Police are now investigating the cause of the overnight blaze, which led to around 120 people being evacuated from their homes and others ordered to stay inside their properties.
A spokesman for a government-run emergency response centre said: ‘The fire broke out in a flat on the 11th floor of a residential apartment block in Villajoyosa.
‘Three fire crews were sent to the scene along with paramedics.
‘We received the alarm at 2.13am this morning. The blaze was put out at 7.34am.’
The flat where the blaze began is in a 24-storey residential block, a two-minute walk from the residential estate where Russian defector Maxim Kuzminov was shot dead on February 13.
The 28-year-old, the helicopter pilot branded a traitor by Moscow after defecting to Ukraine last year, was living under a false identity after moving to the Costa Blanca late last year.
The killing, which is still being investigated by police, has been blamed on a Putin hit squad.
The victim was shot several times in an underground car park after leaving a ninth-floor flat where he had been living.
This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
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