PRAGUE (AFP) - Two women died in a sauna in the northern Czech Republic after the door handle came off, trapping them inside, police said Sunday (April 16).

"The mother and daughter aged 65 and 45 were taking a sauna at their friends' place in a garden colony," police spokesman Iva Kormosova said in a statement.

"The owner thought they were taking too long to come out so she went to check and found them lying on the floor," she said, adding that the women had been in the sauna for around 90 minutes.

Emergency services declared the women dead at the scene.

"The handle on the sauna door broke and the women were trapped. They tried to break the window on the door but failed," said Kormosova.

The accident occurred near the town of Jicin north-east of Prague on Saturday evening, police said.

Post-mortem examinations are due to be held.