A 45-year-old clubgoer leaving a Times Square nightclub was set on fire and badly burned early Sunday after another man used a gas canister from a food cart as an accelerant, police sources said. The man and his attacker exchanged words outside the Nebula nightclub on W. 41st St. near Broadway before the victim reentered the club, sources said. A short time later, around 4 a.m., the victim went back outside and spotted the suspect once again.
A man is recovering Sunday after being set on fire near Times Square as police search for a suspect. The male victim, 45, was set on fire in the area of West 41st Street and 7th Avenue around 4 a.m. Sunday, the NYPD said. Police said he may have had a flammable substance thrown onto him. Officers responded and observed the man on fire. The victim was assisted by the FDNY who put out the fire and took him to a local hospital where he is being treated for burns to his body, according to fire officials. Police tell News 4 they believe the attacker was someone known to the victim.
New York City police are hunting for a suspect who set a man on fire in the middle of Times Square early Sunday in a gruesome attack that echoed a subway murder earlier this year. The 45-year-old victim, who survived, was in the Midtown Manhattan tourist attraction around 4 a.m. when he was attacked, NYPD officials confirmed to WABC. Firefighters worked with police to extinguish the flames and the severely burned victim was taken to a local hospital. The man told police he was approached by a man who lit him on fire after first throwing a liquid substance on him, which police believe was likely flammable.
