Two girls were found dead on a New York City train early Saturday morning in a “subway surfing” game gone wrong, authorities said.
New York City police responded to a 911 call at the Marcy Avenue stop in Brooklyn shortly after 3 a.m. where they found two unresponsive girls who were pronounced dead at the scene.
The police still haven’t idenitifed the victims or revealed their ages, stating that an investigation is ongoing.
“It’s heartbreaking that two young girls are gone because they somehow thought riding outside a subway train was an acceptable game,” New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement.
“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 added that the grieving families and the transit workers who found the girls are “horribly shaken by this tragedy.”
Six people have died surfing subway trains in the city last year, up from five in 2023, AP reported.
In recent years, many teenagers, mostly boys, have lost their lives due to subway surfing, which dates back a century but has become more popular due to social media.
Social media companies have been requested by the transit authority to remove all videos online that glamorize subway surfing.
Authorities have attempted to increase public awareness through campaigns, and by using drones to catch surfers.
The NYPD also reported that the number of arrests made as a result of subway surfing shot up to 229 last year from 135 the year before.
Most of the surfers were teenage boys, and the youngest was 9 years old.
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