FIREFIGHTERS called to extinguish a small blaze in an office building were horrified to find a dead man with an axe in his head, a women secretary who had been beheaded and a third also dead with her tongue cut out.

The shocking discovery was made after the firefighters were called to the office of a former Peruvian prosecutor in Madrid.

They discovered the triple murder and called police to the district of Usera, popular with immigrants in the city of Madrid, the Spanish capital.

The office belongs to the former Peruvian prosecutor who now works as a lawyer in Spain, mostly on cases involving international clients.

Authorities were notified of a fire in the building after one person in a nearby office smelt smoke and saw a fire burning.

She said: “I smelt smoke and called the firemen who arrived quickly.”

After extinguishing the blaze they found a man, a 42-year-old from Ecuador who they believe was a client. He was said to have an axe embedded in his head and around him was a small fire made up of documents and books.

The other two victims, found in another room, were both women, also of Latin American descent and the lawyer’s employees.

One has been identified as 35-year-old Marisa, who is known in the neighbourhood for handing out leaflets for legal help. The other is believed to be 31, although neither has been officially identified.

Both employees were found on the floor and according to local media, one either had her throat cut or had been beheaded. The other woman had a head wound.

In that room too, there was a small fire of books and papers, possibly the criminals’ attempt to try and burn the bodies and destroy the evidence.

The police have been able to locate the Peruvian lawyer, identified as Victor, who was not in his office at the time. The lead investigators in the case have reportedly probed him to discover past disputes and possible suspects.

Victor was reportedly a state lawyer in Peru, where he dealt with kidnapping and drug trafficking cases, among others. Since then he has worked in the law firm in Madrid, which is reportedly of good repute and was founded 18 years ago.