A Russian man drowned in his own faeces after falling into a decaying cesspit and being left there for 12 hours.

Andrey Golubov, 36, was using the communal toilet outside an apartment block in Murmansk in north-west Russia, when the wood-cover gave way.

Despite alerting a friend who came to use the bathroom after him, Mr Golubov's pleas for help were ignored - because his friend assumed he could get out by himself.

Horrific end: Andrey Golubov, 36, was using the communal toilet outside an apartment block north-west Russia, when the rotten wood-cover gave way, and he plunged into the faeces-filled cesspit

Mr Golubov's friend Konstantin Polyakov, 30, has defended his actions, saying he did not know the number to emergency services.

Mr Polyakov said he visited the communal cesspit around 3am, and saw Mr Golubov inside the pit.

'I didn't want to urinate on his head so I went somewhere else, and then went back to bed.

'I didn't have a phone number for the emergency services and assumed he would be able to get out by himself.'

Bad friend: Konstantin Polyakov, a friend of Mr Golubov, discovered him in the cesspit around 3am, but did not call emergency services as he assumed Mr Gulubov would be able to get out of the hole by himself

No worse way to die: Mr Golubov drowned in the excrement, and was discovered in the pit 12 hours later

The next day when other friends turned up and Mr Polyakov told them what had happened, they raised the alarm, but by then it was too late.

Neighbour Yuri Blokhin, 60, who also shares the cesspit, said: 'He was on his back with his eyes wide open.

'The problem is that these buildings are so old everything is falling apart.

'None of us has our own toilet so we are forced to use this hole, and no one cleans it out.'

A police spokesman said: 'The man spent over 12 hours in the toilet, lost his strength to stay afloat and drowned.