A 45-year-old man was set on fire in Times Square early Sunday morning, scorching his face and arms, according to police.
An “unidentified individual” lit the 45-year-old victim on fire just before 4 a.m. Sunday morning at the corner of West 41st Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, the New York Police Department told The Independent.
Police are still looking for the suspect, who fled the scene.
The perpetrator is believed to have known the victim, police said. There have been no arrests as of Sunday afternoon.
The victim, who has not yet been identified, was rushed to the hospital and is now in stable condition, authorities said.
What prompted the attack is not immediately clear, but the pair were talking before the attack, the New York Post reported.
The suspect allegedly grabbed something containing flammable liquid off a nearby cart and used it to set the victim ablaze, according to the outlet.
While on fire, the 45-year-old reportedly ran about 100 feet before someone poured the powder from a fire extinguisher onto him, the outlet noted. Footage obtained by the outlet shows the shirtless victim covered in burns and congealed white powder.
The incident comes months after a woman died after being set on fire by a stranger in a subway car.
Debrina Kawam, 57, of Toms River, New Jersey, was sleeping inside a train car at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on December 22 when she was torched.
The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, 33, watched from a bench on the platform as she burned, prosecutors alleged. He was arrested and faces one count of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.
Days later, a man was found with burn injuries on his body inside Penn station. The burns were not life-threatening, police said at the time, noting it was not clear what caused the fire or whether there was any criminality involved.
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