Navam Kaul and Malaika Chitre: NYC Duo Killed in Horror Subway Crash Were Seen Kissing, Hugging Just Moments Before Falling on Tracks

The doomed duo who were fatally struck by a subway train in Manhattan last weekend had been seen hugging and kissing on the platform before ending up on the tracks, where they were hit, according to sources in law enforcement.

Navam Kaul and Malaika Chitre, both 24, were seen embracing moments before they were fatally hit by an incoming subway train at the Spring Street subway station at around 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, according to sources, the New York Post reported. Kaul lost his balance and fell onto the tracks, striking his head, and Chitre then climbed down after him to help, with both getting killed instantly, according to sources.

Fatal Embrace

The two young professionals from New Jersey were captured on video sitting on the tracks before an approaching No. 4 train struck them. Video showing their final moments appears to capture the pair remaining calm before the horrific crash.

Sources said the train operator had too little time to apply the brakes before the train hit them.

Police were investigating whether the two had been so drunk that they failed to grasp the seriousness of the situation until it was too late, sources previously told The New York Post.

Investigators do not believe the incident was a double suicide, according to sources.

Chitre and Kaul were longtime friends and recent Rutgers University graduates who had only recently begun their professional careers, according to their loved ones.

The two grew up in quiet suburban communities in Central Jersey, just 11 miles apart. “There’s nothing in his life that would make him do anything stupid,” said Rajnikant Pipalia, whose son grew up with Kaul in Sayreville and considered him a close friend.

Chitre’s family lives in South Brunswick’s sprawling Summerfield development, while Kaul lived in the planned Colony Club townhouse community in Sayreville.

Both neighborhoods have a sizable South Asian community, a shared background that appears to have brought the two together after they enrolled at the prestigious Garden State University.

“They (Kaul and Chitre) grew up in the same world,” Pipalia said. “They’re all part of the same friends circle, the same South Asian group hanging out together, enjoying the same festivals.”

Friends and Family in Shock

Friends of the two victims said ending up on the tracks was completely unlike them, especially as they were both at the beginning of their adult lives. “I was shocked. He was a financial analyst, doing everything right,” said Sagid Qureshi, Kaul’s next-door neighbor in Sayreville.

“From what I understand she was doing well, too – good people doing so well, with their whole lives ahead of them. It’s just so sad.”

Chitre and Kaul graduated from Rutgers together in 2024. According to her LinkedIn profile, Chitre then joined Acadia Pharmaceuticals as a quality operations specialist while pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Temple University.

Kaul’s LinkedIn profile showed that he worked as a financial data analyst at Bloomberg after graduation. A company source said he was employed as a contract worker and left the position in May.