Two Russian men died in a sauna after jumping into a plunge pool that had accidentally been heated to boiling point, investigators and media said.

The two men jumped into the pool to cool down after sweating in a steam room.

A third man tried to save the victims but was unable to pull the men out of the boiling water, Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid reported today.

The two men’s bodies were discovered in the sauna in the city of Kirov in central Russia on February 18 and “their death was caused by overheating”, the Kirov regional investigative committee confirmed in a statement.

The water in the pool was “overheated due to an error by one of the victims,” investigators said.

Saunas usually include a cold plunge pool.

The men were named by investigators as the director of an old people’s home and the director of a residential home for people with psychiatric problems.