A man has survived after falling off a moving train in Siberia, forcing him to withstand temperatures of -40C dressed in only shorts, t-shirt and a pair of slippers.

After leaving his compartment to go for a cigarette, Valery Malkov opened a door that should have been locked, hurling the 42-year-old into the hostile Siberian wilderness.

But the hardy truck driver, thought to be from Bratsk in Russia's Irkutsk region, was undeterred by the conditions and began to chase after the train.

After racing along the track for seven kilometres (4.3 miles) he eventually stumbled upon a tiny station.

Mr Malkov said he was just as amazed as everybody else that he had not frozen to death.

He said: 'When I was running I was not thinking

'I don't know myself how I didn't freeze. And no, I never did winter swimming.'

When he arrived at minuscule Richard

'I'm in these places often, and I remembered about the place and the distance.'

Accident: Mr Malkov fell out of a train in the Siberian wilderness after opening a door which should have been locked (file picture)