Two 24-Year-Olds Killed by Subway Train at Spring Street Station; Reports of Nepali Origin Disputed
Navam Kaul and Malaika Chitre, both 24, were fatally struck by a southbound No. 4 subway train at the Spring Street station in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 13, 2026. Photos: LinkedIn profiles
NEW YORK — Two 24-year-olds from New Jersey were struck and killed by a southbound No. 4 train early Sunday at the Spring Street subway station in Lower Manhattan, the New York Police Department told NepYork.
Officers responded at about 3:14 a.m. Sept. 13 to a 911 call reporting two people on the tracks at the station, which is within Transit District 4/5, police told NepYork.
Police found a 24-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man on the roadbed after they were struck by the train. Emergency medical workers pronounced both victims dead at the scene, the NYPD said.
According to the NYPD, the victims were identified as Navam Kaul, 24, of Sayreville, New Jersey, and Malaika Chitre, 24, of Dayton, New Jersey.
Both had attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, according to educational and professional information reviewed by NepYork. Chitre graduated in 2024 from the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers–New Brunswick with a degree in science. Her professional profile listed her as an operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals.
Kaul attended Rutgers Business School from 2020 to 2024. His professional profile listed him as a financial data analyst at Bloomberg.
Family disputes reports that Kaul was of Nepali origin
Some social media posts and news reports described Kaul as being of Nepali origin. A source close to the family told NepYork that those reports were incorrect and that Kaul and his family are of Indian origin, with family roots in New Delhi.
“They are not of Nepali origin. Their entire family is of Indian origin,” the family source said, adding that the family came to the United States from Delhi and still has a home there.
The source said Kaul’s funeral was being planned for Sept. 17 in New Jersey.
The source also said Kaul’s family and friends were “deeply shocked” by his death and that police had shown family members video related to the incident. The source said inaccurate details about the circumstances had circulated on social media and in some media reports.
Investigation into what happened
The circumstances that led Kaul and Chitre onto the tracks have not been publicly established by police.
According to information provided by the family source and video circulating on social media that purportedly was recorded shortly before the crash, Kaul may have initially fallen onto the tracks, and Chitre may have gone onto the tracks in an attempt to help him. The source said the video appeared to show Chitre trying to pull Kaul toward her shortly before the train arrived.
Those details have not been independently verified by NepYork, and the NYPD has not publicly confirmed that sequence of events.
The train operator reportedly saw the two people on the tracks as the train was entering the Spring Street station and applied the emergency brakes. The train could not stop before striking them. Four of the train’s 10 cars had entered the station when it came to a stop. The victims were removed from beneath the third and fourth cars and brought onto the platform.
Police have not said how the two initially ended up on the tracks. The investigation remains ongoing.