New York: A woman died after being set on fire on a subway train

The woman, whose name has not been released, was on a subway car at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn at 07:30 local time (12:30 GMT) when a man approached her, police said.

Police, who said there was no contact before the attack, said they do not believe the two men knew each other.

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

“Officers were on patrol upstairs in that station, smelled and saw smoke and went to investigate,” Ms Tisch said.

“What they saw was a man standing inside a train carriage.

Police are still trying to identify the victim and determine the motive for the attack.