A video captured a man and woman calmly sitting on the subway tracks at a Manhattan station moments before a train struck and killed them both, in an incident police are treating as unexplained pending further investigation. The footage, filmed at the Spring Street station in downtown Manhattan, shows the pair apparently staring at the oncoming train as the driver attempted an emergency brake, but it was too late to avoid impact.

The victims, a 24-year-old man from Sayreville, New Jersey, and a 24-year-old woman from Dayton, New York, were struck by a southbound Number 4 train in the early hours of Sunday, with police receiving a call at around 3.14am. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, and investigators are examining whether alcohol may have been a factor, though their identities are being withheld pending family notification. The incident follows a string of other subway safety concerns in New York this year, including the death of MTA worker Moet McCullum on the tracks on 3 September, and separate attacks in July and June in which commuters were pushed into the paths of trains.