In a tragic incident caught on camera, an Indian‑origin woman and her Nepali‑American friend were crushed to death by a downtown No. 4 subway train at Spring Street station in lower Manhattan early Sunday morning.
The victims were identified as Malaika Chitre (24) of Dayton, New Jersey, and Navam Kaul (24) of Sayreville, New Jersey. According to reports, one of them fell onto the tracks and the other jumped down to help, moments before the train arrived.
A video circulating online shows the pair moments before the accident. Police said they were alerted at 3:14 am, and around 100 passengers aboard the train were evacuated after the train was unable to stop in time.
Both Chitre and Kaul had attended Rutgers University together. Chitre completed her Bachelor of Science degree in May 2024 from Rutgers‑New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences, while Kaul studied at the Rutgers Business School but did not graduate.
Professionally, Chitre worked as an operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals, and Kaul was a financial data analyst at Bloomberg. Rutgers University expressed grief over the loss, with Dory Devlin, assistant vice president of news and media relations, saying, “We are saddened to learn of the tragic death of these two former students.”
Law enforcement sources told local media that Kaul may have fallen first, prompting Chitre to jump down to help him. Both were found under the third and fourth cars of the train.
The heartbreaking incident has sparked shock and sorrow among friends, colleagues, and the Rutgers community, highlighting the dangers of subway track proximity and the tragic consequences of split‑second decisions.
