Two firefighters died and another 15 were wounded after two explosions in a perfume shop in Buenos Aires Tuesday as they were trying to extinguish a blaze, the emergency services said.

The blasts, the causes of which are being investigated, caught the firefighters by surprise in Villa Crespo, a middle class neighborhood in the center of the Argentine capital.

"As we were picking up the fallen firefighters we were caught by the second explosion... There are two dead and 15 wounded," Alberto Crescenti, head of the emergency medical system, told news channel C5N.

Six of the injured were taken to hospitals by police helicopter.

Perfumeries are among the shops considered essential during the coronavirus lockdown in Buenos Aires, as they sell face masks and hand sanitizer.

COVID-19 has so far claimed 569 lives in Argentina, out of more than 18,000 cases.

Coronavirus Argentina