Firemen have rescued a half-naked woman who was brutally beaten and left for 12 hours in a 10-foot-deep hole in the nick of time before her attackers returned to kill her.

The firemen found the 32-year-old woman inside the three-metre- (9.8-ft-) deep hole in the ground in the Brazilian city of Londrina on the afternoon of Thursday, 15th July.

They went to the scene – an abandoned half-built property – after officers received an anonymous tip-off.

The firemen removed the woman from the narrow hole and saw she had injuries to her head, face, belly and legs and broken bones in both her hands.

The person who made the tip-off told the police that the woman had been attacked the whole night and left in the hole in the ground.

He told the police that the perpetrators planned to return to kill her on the night of Thursday, 15th July – just hours after she was rescued.

Police officer Gnecco said: “The plot of land is large and we did a sweep, we looked for everything that was covered.

“The woman was in this hole that was opened to pass a water or sewer pipe through.

“The hole was closed with a cement lid, and branches, sticks and construction debris were placed on top so as not to attract attention to it.

The victim told the police that she was passing through the area when she felt a heavy blow to the head. When she came to her senses, she was being beaten with bricks and bats.

She was thrown in the hole at around 3 am and only found at 2:50 pm, injured and dehydrated. She was then taken to hospital, where she was treated for multiple trauma.

At the time of reporting, she was in a stable condition.

No information about the perpetrators or possible motive have been reported. The police are investigating the case.