One schoolgirl has died and another has been left fighting for life after plunging from an apartment building in a suspected suicide pact.
The 12-year-old Argentinian identical twins had just moved to the new flat recently with their family in the town of Sallent, Spain.
The horror happened around 4pm on Tuesday and one of the girls was pronounced dead at the scene after desperate attempts to save her by emergency responders.
Her twin had been taken to Parc Tauli Hospital in nearby Sabadell where she was admitted to intensive care and her condition has been described as critical.
Police in Spain are now investigating whether the twins made a suicide pact before they plunged from a third-floor.
Local reports said the pair had left two hand-written letters pointing to a possible suicide pact with some neighbours claiming they could have been suffering bullying.
Two chairs are also said to have been found on the balcony after they went over it.
Police have ruled out the possibility the incident is linked to a crime but say they are still trying to establish whether the girls’ fall was accidental or voluntary. Their parents are said to have been in the flat at the time.
Sallent Town Hall said in a statement it was decreeing three days of mourning and suspending all public events linked to the town’s annual carnival festivities.
It said: “We experienced a tragic event in Sallent. Two children who lived in Sallent plunged from a balcony in an incident that caused the death of one of them and led to the other being taken to the hospital in a critical condition.
“We send our condolences to their family, friends and acquaintances and to the education community as a whole. This has caused our whole population shock and pain.
“It is why Sallent Town Hall has decided to decree three days of mourning and is suspending all public events scheduled as part of the carnival festivities until the end of tomorrow."
One witness who knew the twins said: “No-one knows what happened. Only the girls know. I’m still in a state of shock. I can’t believe what’s occurred.”
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