A 23-year-old man was set on fire at a New York City subway station on Saturday, according to NYPD officials. The victim was reportedly thrown a combustible substance, which resulted in severe burns to his body, around 3 p.m. as a No. 1 train arrived at the Houston Street station.
According to the authorities, the material ignited when it touched the victim’s shirt and scorched the man’s flesh.
The New York Post reported on Saturday that 23-year-old Petrit Alijaj was still in shock from the random attack earlier in the day as he laid down in his bed at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Hospital, his entire upper body wrapped in bandages. Thirty percent of his body is burned, according to the doctors, and he anticipates spending at least a week recovering in the hospital.
Originally from Albania, Alijaj claimed he was sitting with his fiancée and his cousin on the No. 1 train when it arrived at the lower Manhattan stop of Varick Street at 2:45 p.m. on their way to see the Statue of Liberty. According to Alijaj, he used his body to shield his cousin and fiancée, who were seated next to him. “I protect my fiancée with my body,” he told The Post.
He said that as soon as his shirt took fire, he started dousing the flames with his hands and running from the train. At first, he didn’t believe the burns were that terrible, but when he got to the hospital, he discovered he was covered in blisters from burns on his neck, ears, chest, arms, and left hand.
The attacker—later identified as 49-year-old Nile Taylor—tried to flee, but was caught by police at a nearby Manhattan station.
