Indian-origin woman, friend sit on NYC subway track, die after train hits them

An Indian-origin woman and her Nepali-American friend, both 24, were killed after a subway train struck them while they were sitting on the tracks at a station in Lower Manhattan, according to The New York Post.

Malaika Chitre, of Dayton, New Jersey, and Navam Kaul, of Sayreville, New Jersey, were on the roadbed at the Spring Street subway station when they were hit by a southbound No 4 train around 3:15 am, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said.

A video, recorded by a bystander, and widely circulating on social media appeared to show the pair sitting calmly on the tracks seconds before a train ran over them. The train operator told investigators that Chitre appeared to be laughing and pulling Kaul towards her moments before the train struck them.

According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), one of the two victims appeared to have fallen onto the tracks, prompting the other to climb down to help. The train operator told supervisors that she saw the man and woman sitting on the tracks and tried to use the emergency brake, but was unable to stop the train in time.

Officers responded to reports of two people needing assistance at the station and found Chitre and Kaul on the tracks after they had been struck. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

About 100 passengers were evacuated from the train following the incident, according to the New York Daily News.

The circumstances surrounding why Chitre and Kaul were on the tracks remain under investigation. Law-enforcement sources told The New York Post that detectives were examining whether the two may have been intoxicated and failed to realise the danger until it was too late.

Sources said no suicide notes were found, although investigators had not ruled out suicide as a possible motive.

Chitre worked as an operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals, while Kaul was a financial data analyst at Bloomberg, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Both were Rutgers University alumni and graduated around the same time.

FRIENDS SHOCKED TO HEAR VICTIMS' DEATHS

Friends and acquaintances described Kaul as a friendly and charismatic person who was well-liked in his community.

“They grew up in the same world,” Rajnikant Pipalia, the mother of one of Kaul’s friends, told The New York Post. “They’re all part of the same friends circle, the same South Asian group hanging out together, enjoying the same festivals.”

“There’s nothing in his life that would make him do anything stupid,” Pipalia said of Kaul.

Pipalia said Kaul was of Nepali descent and that his parents had immigrated to the US from Nepal about three decades ago.

A former school friend from Sayreville War Memorial High School described Kaul as “down-to-earth”, adding that he was “goofy, funny, and very charismatic”.

A neighbour near Chitre’s family home also remembered her fondly, describing her as a bright and smart student who used to play with children in the neighbourhood.

“I was shocked when I heard about this,” the neighbour told The New York Post. “It’s just so weird. I’m still not understanding: why on the track?”

The NYPD said its investigation into the deaths remains ongoing.

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