Sleeping woman killed when set on fire on New York subway train, US police say

US police have arrested a man they say set a woman on fire while she appeared to be asleep on a New York City subway train on Sunday morning, killing her.

The woman, who has not been identified, sat motionlessly aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn at about 7:30 a.m. local time, when an unknown man approached her and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire, the New York Police Department says. Police say there was no interaction before the attack and they do not believe the two people knew each other.

The man got off the car as police officers on patrol in the station rushed to the blaze.

“What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says at a press conference.

The officers used fire extinguishers to put out the fire and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders, police say.

Police arrested a suspect, who has not been publicly identified, as he rode the subway later in the day.

Police say they are still investigating the victim’s identity and the reason for the attack.