A cleaning lady was shot dead this morning during a bank raid on the Caja Rural Castilla-La Mancha branch in Santa Cruz de Retamar (Toledo).

Mercedes Cabrero García, who had been cleaning the same office for 30 years, after taking over the job from her mother, was shot by the robbers, whilst the bank employees were being gagged.

According to the bank's head of PR, Javier Rodríguez, the incident occurred between 8am and 8.30am today, when the three bank employees and their regional manager arrived at the branch.

There, waiting for them, were three individuals, wearing balaclavas, who forced them into one of the offices at gunpoint and gagged them.

At this point, said Rodríguez, the Caja Rural workers heard a shot and "became extremely nervous".  The would-be robbers fled empty-handed, but one of them has since been arrested.

Police are currently in the bank branch piecing the evidence together and an investigation into the cleaner's death has been opened.

Andrés Gómez Mora, the president of Caja Rural Castilla-La Mancha, has sent a message of condolence to the family of the victim, and has declared his indignation at the attack, describing it as "unjustifiable" and saying "no-one has the right" to cut short the life of another person, adding "we considered her one of our own".