Woman dies after being set on fire on subway train

A man has been arrested in New York in connection with the death of a woman who was set on fire on a subway train in Brooklyn.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called Sunday’s incident “one of the most depraved crimes a person can commit against another human being.”

She said the woman was on a stationary F train heading to Brooklyn when she was approached by a man who used a lighter to ignite her clothes.

Stating that the victim died at the scene, the official added that the suspect was arrested upon the notice of a group of high school students while riding the subway on Sunday.

Police said the unnamed woman was in a subway car at Brooklyn’s Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station around 7:30 a.m. local time (12:30 GMT) when a man approached her.

Police said there was no interaction before the attack, adding that they did not believe the two men knew each other.

The man got off the train while police officers patrolling the station rushed to the fire.

“Officers were patrolling the upper level of the station, they smelled smoke and saw smoke and went to investigate,” Ms. Tisch said.

“They saw a person standing inside the train car completely engulfed in flames.”

Police continue their work to identify the perpetrator of the attack and the identity of the victim.

“Unbeknownst to the responding officers, the suspect had remained at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train car,” Ms. Tisch added.

He explained that responding officers were able to get a “very clear and detailed” look at the man, and the footage was distributed by the New York Police Department (NYPD).

Later, three high school-age New Yorkers called 911 and reported that they recognized the suspect on another train, Ms. Tisch told reporters.

The man was later located after officers boarded the train and went through subway cars.

He was arrested at the Herald Square station near the Empire State Building in Manhattan.

The police commissioner said the man was found with a lighter in his pocket.

“I want to thank the teens who called 911 for help,” Ms. Tisch added.

“They saw something, they said something, and they did something.”

NYPD’s Joseph Gulotta said the man, whose identity was not publicly released, immigrated to the United States from Guatemala in 2018.

Detectives are still trying to determine whether the victim was asleep when he was set on fire, Gulotta said.

“It’s absolutely there, motionless,” Mr. Gulotta added.

“We’re not 100% sure to say if he’s sleeping or not, but it looks like he’s motionless at that point.

“There is no interaction between the two. There is no interaction between them when the incident occurs.”