A new mother was reportedly killed shortly after giving birth by being 'chopped in half' by a lift, international media report.

The family of the 25-year-old mother-of-three have spoken of how she was being carried out on a stretcher when the lift malfunctioned and she was cut in two.

Rocio Cortes Nunes was reportedly travelling from the second to the third floor of the Virgen de Valme Hospital in Seville, southern Spain.

Spanish media report the young woman's dad cried “They killed her! My daughter was killed!” following the tragedy.

Nunes leaves behind three daughters: Carmen, five, Rocio, four and new born Triana.

Her family said a hospital porter moving her between floors had gone to change lifts after the doors opened and closed but it did not move.

As he removed Rocio’s stretcher the lift reportedly began moving up, trapping her.

It is thought the lift began moving up before the stretcher was fully in following a suspected mechanical failure with the automatic lift door. 

Firefighters reportedly took two hours to retrieve her body, which was stuck in the lift doors.

Her husband, waiter Jose Gaspar, said: “This cannot end like this.

“This time it has been Rocio but tomorrow it could be another person. I’m a total wreck.”

Her mother said: “My heart missed a beat. I asked after my daughter but no-one was telling me anything.

“She had given birth at 11 in the morning so I went to the information desk. They told me there a young girl had died and then confirmed it was my daughter. What a cruel death she’s suffered.”