The mother of the two children who died in last week’s devastating apartment fire in Benalmadena has also died from her injuries.

The 49-year-old woman had been fighting for her life in the burns unit at Sevilla’s Virgen del Rocío Hospital after suffering burns to around 70% of her body.

Health officials confirmed she died on Tuesday afternoon, almost a week after the fire that claimed the lives of her 10-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter.

The tragedy unfolded in the early hours of July 30 at an apartment block on Calle Onix in Arroyo de la Miel.

The Policia Nacional are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire, although early indications suggest it may have been started by a mobile phone power bank.

Investigators believe a curtain may have caught fire before the flames spread to a sofa, rapidly engulfing the property. This hypothesis has not been officially confirmed.

According to the initial investigation, the fire began in a third-floor apartment before quickly spreading to the fourth floor, where the family lived.

Police believe the mother and her two children attempted to escape after noticing the blaze below them but became trapped by the so-called ‘chimney effect’, in which smoke and intense heat rapidly travel upwards through stairwells and other vertical spaces, blocking escape routes.

A firefighter and multiple police officers were injured during the rescue operation.

Benalmadena Fire Brigade described the blaze as ‘ferocious, fast-spreading and with an extremely high thermal load’, saying it created exceptionally difficult conditions for both residents trying to escape and firefighters attempting to reach them.

Neighbours described the family as ‘much loved’ within the apartment block.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.