A woman died in a house fire in Bloemfontein in the early hours of Thursday morning, police said.
Spokesman Captain Chaka Marope said Navalsig police on patrol saw flames coming from a property on Andries Pretorius Street at 2am.
The residents of the main house were fast asleep and oblivious to screams coming from a back room, which was engulfed in flames.
Police managed to wake and evacuate most of the people, but after the flames were extinguished they found the woman dead in the back room.
Although the flames had not reached her yet, she appeared to have died from smoke inhalation. Her husband survived and was taken to Pelonomi Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. - Sapa