Two teenage girls were found dead atop a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, early Saturday in an apparent subway surfing incident, reports the New York Times.
The girls were found unconscious on the roof of a train at the Marcy Avenue station in Williamsburg that had just crossed the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan.
"It's heartbreaking that two young girls are gone because they somehow thought riding outside a subway train was an acceptable game," Demetrius Crichlow, the president of New York City Transit, told the Times.
"Parents, teachers, and friends need to be clear with loved ones: getting on top of a subway car isn't 'surfing' — it's suicide."
He said the grieving families and the transit workers who discovered the girls have been "horribly shaken by this tragedy."
A number of teenagers, mostly boys, have been killed or badly injured in recent years while trying to "subway surf," a practice that dates back a century, but has been supercharged by social media.
Six people died surfing subway trains in the city last year, up from five in 2023.
The NYPD has reported that arrests of alleged subway surfers rose to 229 last year, up from 135 the year before. Most were boys, with an average age of around 14, according to police. The youngest was nine years old.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.