A 24-year-old Indian-origin woman and her Nepali-American friend were killed after they were struck by a subway train while sitting on the tracks at a station in Lower Manhattan, according to The New York Post.
Malaika Chitre, from Dayton, New Jersey, and Navam Kaul, from Sayreville, New Jersey, were on the tracks 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 later circulated on social media appeared to show the two women sitting on the tracks shortly before the train arrived. Sources said the train operator told supervisors that Chitre appeared to be laughing while pulling Kaul towards her as they sat on the tracks.
According to law enforcement sources, one of the women either fell onto the tracks or climbed down, prompting the other to follow and help her.
The train operator reportedly told supervisors that she spotted Chitre and Kaul on the tracks and immediately attempted to activate the emergency brake. However, the train could not be stopped in time, The New York Post reported.
Police officers responding to a report about two people needing assistance at the station found the women on the tracks after they had been struck. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Around 100 passengers were evacuated from the train following the incident, according to the New York Daily News.
The circumstances that led the two friends to the tracks remain under investigation. Law enforcement sources told The New York Post that detectives were looking into whether the women may have been intoxicated and failed to recognise the danger they were in.
Investigators reportedly found no suicide notes, although suicide has not been ruled out as a possible explanation.
Chitre worked as an operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals, while Kaul was employed as a financial data analyst at Bloomberg, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
Both were Rutgers University alumni and graduated around the same time.
Friends and acquaintances have expressed shock over their deaths. Kaul was remembered as friendly and charismatic and as someone who was well-liked within her community.
Rajnikant Pipalia, the mother of one of Kaul's friends, told The New York Post that the two were part of the same South Asian social circle and had grown up among many of the same friends.
Pipalia said Kaul was of Nepali descent and that her parents had moved to the United States from Nepal around three decades ago.
