A woman died when a subway fire broke out in New York, police said. By Reuters
Written by Jonathan Allen
POLICE have arrested a man who they say set a woman on fire while she appeared to be sleeping on the New York City subway Sunday morning, and she died.
The woman, who has not been identified, was sitting motionless on the F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn around 7:30 am (1230 GMT) when an unknown man calmly approached her using a flashlight. his clothes were on fire, the New York Police Department said. Police said there was no cooperation before the attack and they do not believe the men knew each other.
The suspect got out of the car while the police patrolling the station rushed to the fire.
“What they saw was a person standing inside a burning train car,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference.
A cell phone video posted on social media by a shocked onlooker shows a man sitting on a bench on a platform a few steps away from a burning woman, wearing gray pants similar to those worn by the suspect who was arrested later on Sunday.
When asked if the man who was watching from the bench was the one who attacked her, the police said that they had no reason to think that he was a suspect when they rushed to help the woman.
Police used fire engines to put out the fire and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, police said.
Police arrested the suspect, who will not be publicly identified, while riding the subway later on Sunday.
The police said they are still investigating the identity of the deceased and the reason for the attack.
About 4 million trips are taken each weekday on the subway, where violent crime is relatively rare. Since November, there have been nine reported subway homicides in 2024, compared to five during the same period in 2023, according to police data.
Earlier this month, a judge acquitted Daniel Penny of manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator, on a suburban street. Neely has been yelling at the subway passengers in a rage when Penny grabs her from behind and holds her on the train for several minutes.
