A FIREMAN has died and another left seriously injured after attempting to rescue a 12-year-old child who had climbed a fence into a building site in Barcelona to get his football back.

He had fallen into a hole in the ground on the site, where the new Spanish affiliate of Coca-Cola, Cobega, is being built.

All three were electrocuted.

A spokesperson from Barcelona city council says the firemen were unaware that there was a high-voltage pylon in the middle of the site, so they did not contact the electricity board to ask them to cut off the supply temporarily.

One of the firemen, 28-year-old J.G.G., suffered burns to 45 per cent of his body and died in Barcelona's Vall d'Hebrón hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The child suffered burns to 36 per cent of his body, and is said to be in a serious but stable condition.

The other fireman, J.G.R., 50, suffered burns to his hands and is also in hospital, but his condition is said to be less serious.