Two Rutgers Graduates Killed by NYC Subway Train at Spring Street Station: What We Know
Two 24-year-old Rutgers University graduates from New Jersey were killed early Sunday after being struck by a southbound 4 train at Manhattan’s Spring Street subway station, according to New York City police and multiple reports.
The victims were identified as Malaika Chitre of the Dayton section of South Brunswick and Navam Kaul of Sayreville. Police were called to the station at about 3:14 a.m. on September 13, 2026. Both were found on the roadbed after being struck and were pronounced dead at the scene.
The deaths quickly became a major topic on social media, where posts began circulating photographs, video and claims about what happened in the minutes before the train arrived. Some of those claims go beyond what police have publicly established. The central confirmed facts are that Chitre and Kaul were on the tracks as the train entered the station, the operator was unable to stop in time, and the NYPD investigation remains ongoing.
What happened at the Spring Street station
According to reporting by Patch citing the NYPD, Chitre and Kaul were seen sitting on the roadbed as a southbound 4 train entered the Spring Street station. Police responded to a 911 call at approximately 3:14 a.m. Sunday. The train operator could not stop before the collision, and emergency responders pronounced both victims dead at the scene.
PEOPLE reported the same basic timeline based on a statement it obtained from the NYPD. The outlet also cited an MTA report, via the New York Daily News, suggesting that one person may have fallen onto the tracks and that the other went down in an attempt to help. That account is important but should not be treated as a final investigative finding. Authorities have not publicly explained why the pair remained on the roadbed or exactly how they first got there.
About 100 passengers were evacuated following the incident, according to PEOPLE. The station is in Lower Manhattan, and the collision disrupted service while emergency personnel and investigators responded.
Who were Malaika Chitre and Navam Kaul?
Chitre and Kaul were longtime friends and members of Rutgers University’s Class of 2024, according to local reporting. Both had grown up in Central New Jersey and were at the beginning of their professional careers.
Malaika Chitre
Chitre, 24, was from the Dayton section of South Brunswick. Patch reported that she graduated from South Brunswick High School in 2020 and earned a bachelor’s degree in public health from Rutgers University in 2024, with a minor in business administration.
She had been working as a quality operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals. According to information from her LinkedIn profile cited by Patch, Chitre also began pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Temple University School of Pharmacy in August 2026. Her education and work placed her on a path spanning public health, pharmaceuticals and pharmacy.
Navam Kaul
Kaul, also 24, was from Sayreville. He graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School in 2020 and Rutgers Business School in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in finance, Patch reported.
Kaul had been working as a financial data analyst at Bloomberg since May 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile as cited by Patch. Friends and neighbors quoted in other coverage described his death as especially shocking because he was a young professional just beginning his career.
What investigators have confirmed — and what they have not
The most important distinction in a fast-moving story like this is between facts attributed directly to police and theories attributed to unnamed sources.
Confirmed or consistently reported from official information: Chitre and Kaul were both 24; both were from New Jersey; both were Rutgers graduates; police responded to Spring Street around 3:14 a.m.; the pair were on the roadbed when a southbound 4 train entered the station; the operator could not stop in time; both were pronounced dead; and the investigation is ongoing.
Still unresolved: how each person initially entered the track area, why they remained there as the train approached, and whether any impairment, medical issue, accident or other factor contributed.
The New York Post, citing unnamed law-enforcement sources, reported that investigators were examining whether one or both victims may have been intoxicated or disoriented. The outlet also reported that no suicide notes had been found and that investigators had not ruled out suicide. Those details have not been presented as final NYPD findings and should remain attributed to the sources that reported them.
There is also source-based reporting that one person either fell or went down onto the tracks and the other followed to help. PEOPLE, citing an MTA report through the Daily News, reported a similar possibility. Until investigators release a fuller account, it is more accurate to describe that sequence as a reported theory rather than a settled fact.
Why the viral social-media version requires caution
Video and screenshots from the station circulated widely within hours, and some social posts framed the case in definitive terms before authorities had explained the circumstances. That creates a familiar problem in breaking-news coverage: the existence of footage may establish that a moment occurred, but it does not automatically establish why the people involved acted as they did.
Short clips can omit what happened immediately beforehand. They cannot reliably establish intoxication, intent, mental state or whether someone experienced a medical emergency. Those are questions for investigators, witnesses, toxicology findings and other evidence.
For that reason, this article does not embed graphic footage of the collision and does not treat speculation about impairment or suicide as fact. The families of Chitre and Kaul are dealing with the sudden deaths of two young people, and accuracy matters more than repeating the most dramatic interpretation circulating online.
The Rutgers and New Jersey connection
The deaths resonated strongly in New Jersey because both victims graduated from Rutgers in 2024 and came from nearby Central Jersey communities. Chitre’s background in South Brunswick and Kaul’s in Sayreville meant the story quickly spread through local networks as their identities became public.
Their post-college paths were different but similarly early-stage. Chitre had moved into pharmaceutical quality work while beginning pharmacy studies. Kaul had entered finance and data work at Bloomberg. Both had completed college only about two years before their deaths.
That context has contributed to the reaction online: the victims were not anonymous commuters but recent graduates with careers and further education underway. Still, biographical details should not be used to infer what happened at Spring Street. They provide context about the people who died, not an explanation for the incident itself.
What remains unanswered
Several major questions remain open as of Monday evening:
- How did Chitre and Kaul first get onto the roadbed?
- Did one person go down first and the other attempt a rescue?
- What occurred in the minutes before the train entered the station?
- Did alcohol, drugs, a medical condition or another factor play any role?
- Will surveillance footage, witness accounts or toxicology findings clarify their actions?
- Will the NYPD or medical examiner release additional findings?
Police have not publicly answered those questions. Patch reported that it remains unknown why the pair were on the tracks and that the investigation is ongoing. That is the clearest official posture at this stage.
A tragedy that spread online before the investigation was complete
The speed of this story illustrates how modern breaking news can develop in two parallel tracks. On one track, police, transit officials and medical authorities work through evidence and formal identification. On the other, social platforms distribute clips, witness claims and speculation almost instantly.
That gap can create false certainty. A post may accurately identify victims or a location while attaching an explanation that has not been verified. In this case, the identities, Rutgers connection, location, train line and fatal outcome are well supported. The motive or reason the pair were on the tracks is not.
Readers should also be cautious with graphic videos presented without context. Re-sharing such footage can expose families, friends and strangers to the victims’ final moments while adding little verified information to the public record.
The bottom line
Malaika Chitre and Navam Kaul, both 24 and 2024 Rutgers University graduates, were killed after being struck by a southbound 4 train at Manhattan’s Spring Street station early Sunday, September 13. Police responded around 3:14 a.m., and both were pronounced dead at the scene. The operator was unable to stop before the train struck them.
The NYPD investigation remains open. Reports that one person went onto the tracks first and the other tried to help are plausible and have been attributed to transit or law-enforcement sources, but authorities have not released a final account. Claims involving intoxication or suicide are likewise not established facts.
This article will be updated if the NYPD, the medical examiner, Rutgers University, the families or other authoritative sources release significant new information.
Source note: This report was compiled from NYPD-linked reporting by Patch and PEOPLE, plus source-attributed reporting by the New York Post. The social-media screenshot shown above was supplied as the starting point for this report; claims appearing in social posts were independently checked where possible.
Read the Patch report
Read the PEOPLE report
Read the New York Post source-based report