Flames Engulf Bronx Woman as 10-Year-Old Son Watches TV in Next Room: Police

Fire officials say the woman accidentally caught fire while she cooking in the kitchen

Authorities are investigating the death of a 53-year-old woman who was found engulfed in flames in an apartment bathroom by her fiance, who had been watching television with the woman's 10-year-old son in the next room. 

The fiance told police he and the woman's young son had been watching TV in their Webster Avenue apartment in the Bronx Sunday afternoon while the woman was in the kitchen, authorities say.

The apartment started to fill up with smoke and the two went to see what was wrong. They found the stovetop left unattended and the woman in the adjacent bathroom, engulfed in flames.

The fiance tried to put out the fire, according to police, but the woman could not be saved. She was pronounced dead at the scene with severe burns.

Police say no criminality is suspected and no arrests have been made. Fire officials say the woman accidentally caught fire while she cooking in the kitchen. A smoke alarm was present but not operational, they said. 

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