San Francisco police searched Sunday for a man suspected of throwing a flammable liquid at his girlfriend and severely burning her.

Officer Carlos Manfredi said witnesses in the city's Bayview District reported hearing the woman screaming. She was taken to a hospital burn unit with life-threatening injuries.

Investigators believe her attacker was 22-year-old Dexter Oliver.

Manfredi said Oliver had a "dating relationship" with the woman, but he did not know the circumstances that led to the attack.

The victim's sister told KGO-TV that Oliver doused his girlfriend with gasoline and lit her on fire during an argument at a nearby Laundromat.

Precious Craig said most of her sister's face was burnt, and that the family expects her to recover.