At least five people have died and four more have been left injured, two seriously, after a building collapsed last night in Palma de Mallorca.

The three-storey building, on the corner between calles Alós and Rodríguez Arias, collapsed at 00.30hrs.  Neighbours say they heard a loud explosion just before it collapsed, leading the emergency services originally to suspect a gas leak.

Experts from the gas company, Gesa Endesa, however, have now been at the scene for several hours and confirm that there is no evidence of a gas leak nor of the presence of gas and that gas appliance maintenance on the building was up to date.

Amongst the dead are a young girl of about 16, a woman of about 30 and two men in their 60s.  The fifth fatal victim has only just been found and no more details have been released for the moment.

The two seriously injured people have been taken to the Hospital Universitario de Son Dureta and Son Llàtzer respectively, and the two people with slight injuries were treated in local health centres.

Firefighters, local police officers, members of the Guardia Civil and sniffer dogs are still searching through the rubble, looking for between four and six people.

Four families lived in the building and it is not known exactly how many people were inside when it collapsed.

In a separate incident, also in Palma de Mallorca, two people died after an apartment at number 14 Calle Cuba caught fire last night.

The victims were a man and a woman, both in their fifties. A number of neighbours are being treated for slight injuries.