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Police Discover Body Burning Amid Debris Pile On San Francisco Side Street

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Police officers patrolling the South of Market neighborhood early Sunday made a gruesome discovery on a San Francisco side street -- a body ablaze amid a pile of debris, authorities said.

San Francisco police said officers came across what they thought was a debris fire at around 4:30 a.m. on Russ Street between Minna and Natoma streets. Upon investigation, they discovered it was not just debris ablaze but also a human body.

"Officers on patrol saw a fire, thought it was a debris fire," said San Francisco police Sgt. Anthony Pedroza. "They came up and saw it was a person. It was an obvious death to them. They called the paramedics...There are no witnesses yet."

Paramedics, firefighters and an arson investigator also arrived at the scene. Police were looking at nearby buildings to see if surveillance cameras may have recorded what happened.

SFPD Major Crimes Division was investigating the incident as a suspicious death. The victim has not yet been identified, nor has it been confirmed that this was an accident or a malicious act.

No other details were immediately available.

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