New York subway prank causes havoc

It all could've been a scene straight out of a horror movie as a prank caused chaos on a New York subway train.

A woman pretending to sell crickets and worms on a crowded train let the critters loose on subway passengers.

Riders on the subway train were locked in close quarters with the critters for half an hour during rush hour on Wednesday evening after a passenger pulled the train's emergency brake while they were on the Manhattan Bridge.

Teenagers on the train had pushed self-claimed actress Zaida Pugh as she offered the insects up for sale, and she tossed the container holding them into the air, The New York Post reported, citing witnesses.

After the crickets were set free, some of them jumped onto passengers.

"Never seen a crowd get so panicked so fast, everyone rushed to the other side of the train," passenger Ezra Mechaber tweeted.

Some people took out their smartphones and began recording.

An onlooker uploaded footage of the prank to social media.

There is footage of a longer version of the prank on YouTube, however, viewer discretion is advised.

The D train, which connects the boroughs of the Bronx with Brooklyn via Manhattan, was stopped on the bridge spanning the East River.

After it began moving again, police officers met the train at the next station.

No one was injured, and Pugh was taken to a hospital for psychiatric observation, the New York Daily News reported.

Pugh admitted to The New York Post on Friday that she organised the whole stunt in an attempt to go viral on social media.

"I have been doing these pranks for four years now," Pugh said.

"This was to show what homeless people go through and how people treat them."

Pugh, known for a series of outrageous online pranks, said she brought 300 crickets and 300 worms onto the D train Wednesday and had a friend throw the insects into the air — freaking out passengers on board who were completely unaware of what was going on.

"Basically the people who attacked me are a part of the stunt," she said, adding her friends "also do their own comedy skits online as well."

She stayed in character as a homeless person trying to sell crickets, thinking that would help her avoid arrest.

But a police source told The Post that Pugh could be charged in connection with the chaos.

Passengers were appalled to learn that the whole ordeal was merely for an online prank.