Woman lit on fire in 'random' attack on Toronto bus; man arrested, police say

A woman in her20sis in hospital with critical injuries after being lit on fire on a Toronto bus in what police say was a "random" attack.

A 35-year-old man has been arrested with charges pending, police say.

The woman remains in hospital withlife-altering injuries, most of which are second and third-degree burns, media relations officer Toronto policeConst. Alex Li told reporters outside Kiplingstation,where the incident took place.

"It iscause for concern, especially as we've stated this is a random attack," Li said.

Toronto policewere called to the Kipling Avenue andDundasStreet West area around 12:30 p.m. for reports of a woman assaulted.Police say a man poured a liquid substance on the woman and ignited it, causing a fire.

The woman was rushed toSunnybrookHospital. There's no word on her current condition.

It's unknown what motivated the attack, but Li saysthere was some sort of interaction between the man and woman before it happened. Police continue to investigate.

String of recentattacks at Toronto subway stations

Friday's incident comes on the heels of at least two other notable attacks at Toronto subway stations. In April,international student Kartik Vasudev was killedin a shooting outsideSherbournesubway station. That same month, a 39-year-old narrowly escaped being hit by a train after she waspushed onto the tracksfrom a subway platform atBloor-Yongesubway station.

Then, late last month, aman was robbed and beaten outsideDundassubway station. Christian Garcia toldCBCNews he wanted to seemore security and staff atTTCstops.

Rick Leary, chief executive officer of the Toronto Transit Commission, says the agency is "shocked by today's attack."

"Our thoughts are with the victim for a full recovery," Leary said in a statement."I know incidents like this are concerning for our customers and I share that concern."

Leary went on to say theTTCmoves"hundreds of millions of customers every year without incident, but we cannot and do not take that for granted."

TheTTChas several safety measures in place including special constables who patrol the system, cameras and emergency alarms in all stations and vehicles as well as theSafeTTCapp to report suspicious incidents, Leary said.

The agency is also recruiting new special constables and modernizing stations to add more cameras and have more staff visible to deter crime.

The union representing Toronto transit workers also issued a statementsaying it was "horrified" by the incident, and thanked the transit staff and riders who rushed to the woman's aid.

Subway service was suspended from Kipling toIslingtonstations Friday afternoon for the investigation.