A horrifying incident unfolded on Chicago’s transit system as a woman was set ablaze by an unidentified man, only months following the tragic stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a commuter train.
The 26-year-old victim, whose identity remains undisclosed by authorities, was traveling on the L’s Blue Line when an altercation with a man, estimated to be 45 years old, took a violent turn, according to the Chicago Police Department.
During the heated exchange, the man allegedly doused her with a liquid and set it on fire, causing severe burns to the woman.
The assailant managed to flee the scene, but was apprehended by authorities on Tuesday. While the investigation continues, no formal charges have been pressed at this time.
Responding officers found the fire extinguished upon their arrival and witnessed the woman staggering out of the train car before collapsing.
She was swiftly transported by the Chicago Fire Department to a nearby hospital where she is receiving treatment for her critical injuries.
Several witnesses spoke to local news about the horror they witnessed when the woman was engulfed in flames.
‘She had severe burns all over her upper torso and half of her scalp was burnt off,’ Michael Thomas told the Chicago Sun-Times.
A woman was set on fire by an unidentified male passenger on Monday night and is in critical condition
Police apprehended a person of interest, a 45-year-old man, in connection with the attack on Tuesday
The incident follows the harrowing killing of a Ukrainian refugee named Iryna Zarutska (pictured) in August
‘She was lucid and conscious and talking. I believe I overheard something along the lines of, ‘I can’t believe I’m on fire.”‘
Thomas said he joined a group of a dozen bystanders to help put out the fire after she was attacked.
He added that one woman held the victim and consoled her as others stood in silence or recorded on their phones.
Another witness told NBC 5 Chicago that the woman appeared to be in ‘a really bad state’ after the attack.
‘I just saw a lady that was laying in the ground, and they were trying to give her CPR,’ the witness added.
‘And she looked like she was in an awful lot of pain.’
The incident is the latest in a string of violent attacks against women on public transit systems.
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, was killed on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 22.
She was allegedly stabbed to death by a man named DeCarlos Brown, 34, who was indicted by a grand jury on federal charges last month.
The Daily Mail previously obtained harrowing footage of the incident, which revealed Brown strolling down the platform and removing his hoodie after the attack.
Another clip showed Brown, who is schizophrenic, in a zombie-like state, staggering back and forth on the station platform before getting on the train.
The story captured national headlines, calling into question public safety for women, and even provoked Donald Trump to condemn the violence.
Then again, earlier this month, another woman was stabbed on the Blue Line in Chicago on a Saturday night.
An unidentified male had stabbed the woman in the chest with a knife in his backpack and then fled the scene at the next stop.
Earlier this month, police released images of an unidentified man who allegedly stabbed a woman on the Chicago transit system
A similar instance occurred in New York last year when a man named Sebastian Zapeta-Calil was accused of killing a woman named Debrina Kawam
The woman was 27 years old. She survived the attack and was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.
In another eerily similar incident, a woman named Debrina Kawam, 57, was killed after she was set on fire while riding the subway in New York.
Kawam was burned alive and only identified through fingerprint analysis, the medical examiner’s office said at the time.
Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, was arrested as a suspect and charged with murder in the first and second degree, as well as arson.
