A sleeping subway passenger was set on fire and burned to death on Sunday morning, the New York Post (NYP) reported, citing police sources.
New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers responded to a fire call at the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue subway station around 7:30 a.m. and found a woman engulfed in flames on the F train. reported.
Authorities reportedly believe a man who was sitting across from the sleeping woman got up, walked past her and threw a lit match at her, setting her on fire.
Liquor bottles were found around the woman, but it was not immediately clear whether the bottles had any effect on the fire, the Post noted. (Related: 23-year-old man burns while protecting fiance from man suspected of throwing flammable liquid on subway)
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect is believed to be between 25 and 30 years old, NYP later announced. reported. The suspect remains at large and was last seen wearing a gray hoodie, jeans, brown boots and a knitted cap, the newspaper said.
a video In footage circulating on social media, the suspect appears to be sitting on a bench outside the subway car, watching as the victim is engulfed in flames.
Sleeping subway passenger burned alive on F train as mad assailant threw a lit match at her: police sources https://t.co/CusXurtlLF pic.twitter.com/MPfzS9HmWD
— New York Post (@nypost) December 22, 2024
F train service was suspended until the afternoon as authorities continued to investigate the scene. The woman's body was reportedly removed from the station around 1 p.m.
An MTA official told NYP that the woman's clothes appeared to have been “burnt off.”
“I was just passing by. The cops were already there. I didn't see her on fire, but I heard her. She was out. They turned off the lights. [in the car] So no one could see it,” the worker told the news agency.
“It’s scary,” Brooklyn construction manager Alex Greev told the Post. “It's going downhill a little bit. Everyone keeps saying it's going back to the '70s. This happens a lot, and it doesn't set people on fire like this time, but it's robberies, murders. , as well as combat and gunfire, are really common these days. [It’s] Very bad. ”
Murders on New York City subways are up at least 60% this year, according to September data, the Post previously reported reported.
