An 88-year-old woman from Schineni village of Soroca district died after the mattress on the stove caught fire. The woman, who was found with burn marks on her left arm, allegedly got poisoned with carbon monoxide, IPN reports.

The General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations said the fire stopped burning itself. The firefighters and rescuers who went to the scene found the partially charred body of the old woman.

Following examinations, rescuers determined that the fire most likely occurred due to deep cracks in the stove, and the mattress caught fire due to the overloading of the stove. The circumstances of the tragedy are yet to be established by the competent bodies.

Rescuers urge people to strictly observe the fire rules when using heating stoves. Also, specialists recommend that heating sources should not be used if they malfunction or have cracks and urge to remove objects that can burn and other easily flammable goods from near the stove so as to avoid fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The 301 fires that occurred in Moldova so far this year resulted in 25 deaths.