A wooden house has collapsed on a 62-year-old woman, crushing her to death after she used parts of it for heating.

The incident took place in the village of Nizhnyaya Chernavka in the Saratov Oblast region in Russia at around 12.15pm on Sunday, 13th February.

Images show the remains of the wooden house, a one-storey residential building on Zarechnaya Street, that collapsed on the unnamed woman, with only a pile of wood and snow remaining.

The authorities explained that the woman had been taking wood from the house to heat her own home. They also said the woman’s mother used to live in the house that collapsed. Medics responding to the incident could only declare the woman dead.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Saratov Oblast said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “According to preliminary data, a 62-year-old resident of the village of Nizhnyaya Chernavka, Volsky District, Saratov Oblast, arrived at an abandoned private household on Zarechnaya Street, where her mother had previously lived, in order to dismantle the house for firewood for household needs.

“As a result of these actions, the structure of the property collapsed. Rescuers from the Regional Rescue Service, who arrived at the scene, pulled the woman out from under the rubble, and doctors pronounced her dead.”

The authorities said they were establishing “all the circumstances of the incident” and when their investigation is complete, they will decide what the appropriate procedure will be.

The investigation into the woman’s tragic death is ongoing.