NEW YORK (TIP): An Indian-origin woman and her Nepali-American friend, both 24, were killed after they were struck by a subway train while sitting on the tracks at a station in Lower Manhattan, according to reports.
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 at around 3:15 am, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said.
A video recorded by a bystander and widely circulated on social media appeared to show the two friends sitting calmly on the tracks just seconds before the train struck them.
According to sources cited by The New York Post, the train operator told supervisors that Chitre appeared to be laughing as she pulled Kaul towards her while the two were sitting on the tracks.
Law-enforcement sources said one of the two victims may have either fallen or climbed onto the tracks, prompting the other to go down to help.
The train operator reportedly told supervisors that she saw Chitre and Kaul on the tracks and attempted to use the emergency brake but could not stop the train in time.
Police officers responding to reports of two people needing assistance at the station found both on the tracks after they had been struck. They 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.
Why were the two on the tracks?
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 realize the danger until it was too late.
No suicide notes were found, the sources said, 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 alumni of Rutgers University and graduated around the same time.
Friends and acquaintances described Kaul as friendly, charismatic and 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 neighbor 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 neighborhood.
“I was shocked when I heard about this,” the neighbor 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.
(Source: New York Post)
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