Woman dies in Portmore fire

A St Catherine woman, Karen Nugent, 36, died in a fire at her Bridgeport house yesterday. It is reported that about 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, residents saw smoke coming from Nugent's house and quickly alerted the Portmore police.

The fire department arrived on the scene and performed cooling-down operations, and Nugent, who lived alone, was found inside the house among debris. The scene was processed and her remains were moved to the morgue.

Clive Blair, commanding officer for the St Catherine South Police Division, told THE STAR that it is too early to say whether Nugent's death was as a result of arson.

"When the fire was put under control, the body of a female was found in the back. We don't have any motive right now and we don't suspect any foul play. But we have to wait until a post-mortem is conducted ... We can't go any further right now," he said.