Russian Woman Dies After Fall Into Boiling Water

`She parked her car, left it, and immediately found herself in boiling water,` said an official at the Military Medical Academy.

A Russian woman who fell into a pit of boiling water after parking her car died on Tuesday from burns, a hospital official said.

The hole was caused by a ruptured underground heating pipe.

"She parked her car, left it, and immediately found herself in boiling water," said an official at the Military Medical Academy in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg.

A man who tried to rescue the 57-year-old woman also suffered burns but was in stable condition, the official said.

Most Russian cities have ageing municipal heating systems which pump boiling water under the streets and into houses.

Ruptures regularly occur in late autumn when the system is switched on for the winter.