"The mother of the deceased girl managed to take her little baby to safety, and thought that the seven-year-old girl had escaped on her own"

A seven-year-old girl has died in a fire in Butterworth, Eastern Cape police said on Friday.

Captain Jackson Manatha said the girl's body was burnt beyond recognition on Thursday evening in a commune near Butterworth Hospital.

When the fire brigade arrived on the scene, it was found the girl had been trapped in the burning house.

"The mother of the deceased girl managed to take her little baby to safety, and thought that the seven-year-old girl had escaped on her own," Manatha said.

The mother and the baby were not harmed.

Police were investigating.