A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) has found that the death of a woman who fell down a mineshaft might have been avoided if emergency services had rescued her sooner, reports the BBC.

The 44-year-old woman had fallen down the disused shaft in East Ayrshire in 2008. She suffered severe injuries to her chest area and was hypothermic, but her rescue was delayed by the fire service for around six hours because of health and safety concerns. She suffered a heart attack and died as she was finally being brought to the surface.

According to the BBC, the Sheriff leading the inquiry said that the woman's death may have been avoidable if the rescue services had taken a number of "reasonable precautions."