A Russian man has been shot dead by his own dog in a freak accident after the animal jumped on a gun during a hunting trip.
The 64-year-old, identified by local media as Sergei Terekhov, was reportedly hunting with his brother in a remote part of the Saratov region on the banks of the Volga in South Western Russia.
The accident reportedly happened after the man let his two Estonian hounds out of the boot of his Lada car. According to local news website Region 64, Mr Terekhov “released two of his dogs from the trunk of the car, which began to frolic."
“As a result, the paw of one of the animals got on the trigger of the hunting rifle, the butt of which was on the ground, and the barrel was aimed at the man's stomach," the website said.
His brother drove him to hospital, where he died of his injures.
Investigators said Mr Terekhov died of abdominal injuries, where “the victim managed to tell the medics the circumstances of his death”, Vzglyad-Info news agency reported.
“An experienced hunter was killed,” investigator Alexander Galanin told Region 64.
He added: “He was sober, there was a permit for weapons. Everything was OK. There was an accident.”
Locals described him as a “good, kind, cheerful person”, the news outlet reported.
Photographs on Mr Terekhov’s page on the Odnoklassniki (Classmates) social network, show he was a keen hunter with pictures of him hunting rabbits, and posing with his dogs.
