A Colombian woman who weighs nearly 35 stone has been removed from her home by 70 rescue workers.

Cementina Ortiz de Blanco, 70, suffers from a medical condition that causes her body to retain liquids in enormous volumes and can only move her arms and neck.

A team of firefighters and helpers demolished several walls and used a crane to winch Ms De Blanco out of her home in the city of Cucuta.

A reinforced bed was used to transport the Colombian woman to a waiting vehicle so that she could be taken to hospital for emergency treatment.

Fire Chief Jose Javier Monsalve explained the mammoth task: "(We have) picks and shovels in order to make a path to transport the stretcher and hook it to a crane.

"The crane can take her out to the main road, where she is going to be transported in a firefighters' vehicle to a medical centre."

The pensioner has put on more than 12 stone in the last six months and suffers breathing problems and an advanced heart condition.

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.