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Arson investigation after UCLA student dies in fire

LOS ANGELES -- Police are investigating the death of a female UCLA student who was found at the scene of an apartment fire Monday, reports CBS Los Angeles.

Investigators have not determined if the woman, a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, died during the fire or before it. The apartment is located just outside the campus.

Firefighters were sent to the apartment at 7:05 a.m. Monday, the first day of UCLA's fall quarter. There were preliminary reports that a person might still be in the burning apartment, so firefighters searched the home and found the woman, whom they say was beyond medical help.

The cause of the fire, which was extinguished in about 15 minutes, is still under investigation, according to the fire department.

An investigation into the woman's death is continuing, and detectives are still trying to determine whether she died in or before the fire. Police arson investigators are attempting to determine the source of the fire, according to a representative of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The woman's name was not immediately released, pending family notification. The Daily Bruin, UCLA's student newspaper, reported that she was entering her fourth year at UCLA and was studying psychology and Spanish.

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