A suspect has been arrested in New York over the death of a woman who was set on fire on a subway train in Brooklyn.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the incident on Sunday as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being”.
She said the woman was on a stationary F train to Brooklyn when she was approached by a man who used a lighter to ignite her clothing.
The victim died at the scene, she said, adding that the suspect had been taken into custody after he was detained on another subway train
Police said the woman, who has not been named, was in a subway carriage at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn at about 07:30 local time (12:30 GMT) when a man approached her. There was no interaction before the attack, police said, adding that they did not believe the two people knew each other.
The man got off the train as police officers on patrol in the station rushed to the fire. “Officers were on patrol on an upper level of that station, smelled and saw smoke and went to investigate,” Ms Tisch said. “What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames.”
Police are still working to identify the victim and the motive for the attack.