Navam Kaul’s Age Clarified as Friends Mourn Fatal Spring Street Subway Incident

 Malaika Chitre and Navam Kaul, both 24-year-old longtime friends from New Jersey, died after being struck by a New York City subway train Sunday, September 13, 2026. The incident occurred at the Spring Street station in Lower Manhattan, where the pair were reportedly found on the tracks before a southbound No. 4 train arrived. Emergency responders reached the station, but both were pronounced dead at the scene. Reports from multiple outlets identify both victims as 24, clarifying that Kaul was the same age as Chitre.

Chitre and Kaul were recent Rutgers University graduates who had remained part of the same social circles after college. Reports identify Chitre as a resident of Dayton, New Jersey, and Kaul as being from Sayreville, New Jersey. Their deaths have drawn attention from friends, neighbors and members of the Rutgers community, while relatives and those who knew them continue to process the sudden loss. Their shared history as longtime friends has also shaped the tributes emerging after the incident.

According to reports, the fatal collision happened at approximately 3:14 a.m. at Spring Street. The pair were seen on the tracks before the train reached the station area. The train operator reportedly attempted to stop, but the train could not be halted in time to avoid the collision. About 100 passengers were reportedly aboard the train and were later moved from it as authorities responded to the incident. The available reporting indicates that the victims were pronounced dead at the station.

Questions remain about how Chitre and Kaul ended up on the tracks. Initial accounts have described differing possibilities, including reports that one person may have fallen or entered the tracks first and the other followed while attempting to help. Other reports have said investigators are examining whether alcohol may have been a factor. Those accounts remain part of an active investigation, and no definitive explanation for why the pair were on the tracks has been established.

The circumstances have made the incident especially difficult for people who knew the two young adults, but the available information does not establish a final account of what happened immediately before the train arrived. Surveillance footage and statements from people connected to the investigation have been reported as part of the effort to reconstruct the final moments. Authorities are continuing to examine the evidence, and conclusions may change as investigators establish a fuller timeline.

Beyond the circumstances of their deaths, reporting has described Chitre and Kaul as recent graduates beginning their professional lives. Chitre was reported to have worked in pharmaceutical operations while continuing her education, and Kaul was reported to have worked as a financial analyst. Their careers and education were part of lives that extended beyond the tragedy, and friends have described the pair as connected through shared communities and years of friendship.

For their families, friends and former classmates, the deaths of Malaika Chitre and Navam Kaul represent a sudden loss. The investigation remains ongoing, and additional information may clarify how the two reached the tracks and what occurred in the moments before the train arrived. For now, one factual point is clear from current reporting: Navam Kaul was 24 years old, the same age as Malaika Chitre. Both were Rutgers graduates from New Jersey whose lives ended in the Spring Street subway incident.