World News – AU – Woman dead, man hospitalized after fire in South Canberra

A Canberra woman is dead and her husband is recovering in the hospital after an overnight fire consumed her house in the south of the city.

The 70-year-old woman died in the house in McTaggart Crescent, Kambah while her 74-year-old husband was able to find his way to the back yard of the house.

The emergency services were on Sunday around 19. Attention was first drawn to the fire at 45 p.m., but did not reveal details of the deadly fire until late Monday morning.

Detective Inspector Matthew Reynolds of ACT Policing said it was not yet clear how the fire started, but investigators didn’t believe it was suspicious.

« The 74-year-old man suffered some non-life-threatening injuries that caused him to inhale in shock and apparently distraught, » he said.

« The damage to the house is great at the moment and has to be assessed structurally. « 

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Superintendent Paul Flynn of ACT Fire and Rescue said the man escaped the fire by escaping into the back yard.

« I think [the 74-year-old] made his way to the back yard. He was found at the back of the property.

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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time, 10 hours before GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

Kambah, Australian capital territory