By Rajwa Quasim
Two 24-year-old friends from New Jersey were killed after being struck by a subway train at the Spring Street station in downtown Manhattan early Sunday morning.
The victims were identified as Malaika Chitre of Dayton and Navam Kaul of Sayreville. They were struck by a southbound No. 4 train at about 3:14 a.m. Emergency responders arrived at the scene, but both victims were pronounced dead.
The New York Post reported that the two were seen on the tracks shortly before they were struck. The incident began when Kaul ended up on the tracks, although it remains unclear whether he fell or climbed down intentionally. Chitre then appeared to go onto the tracks after him, which investigators believe may have been an attempt to help Kaul.
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The train operator told investigators that she saw a man and a woman sitting on the tracks as the train approached. She activated the emergency brakes, but was unable to stop the train in time.
Video circulating on social media appears to show Chitre pulling Kaul toward her as the train approached. The operator told investigators that the woman was laughing and pulling the man toward her when the train struck them.
Following the incident, about 100 passengers aboard the train were evacuated. The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not determined exactly how the two ended up on the tracks or what happened in the moments before the collision.
Investigators are also examining whether intoxication or other factors played a role, according to reports.
Chitre and Kaul graduated from Rutgers University in 2024. Chitre was working as an operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals, while Kaul was employed as a data analyst at Bloomberg.
People close to the victims said the two had grown up within the same South Asian community and shared a wider circle of friends.
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Rajnikant Pipalia, the mother of one of Kaul’s friends, told reporters that Kaul and his friends had done well in college and gone on to work for major companies.
“There is nothing in his life that would make him do anything stupid,” Pipalia said.
Investigators are expected to provide more details as they review surveillance footage and toxicology results to determine how the two ended up on the tracks and the circumstances surrounding the collision.