Two teenage sisters drowned Friday night after they got lost in the waters off Coney Island beach in Brooklyn, New York, according to police and witnesses. The New York Police Department reported that the two teenage sisters, aged 17 and 18, were pulled from the water at Coney Island Beach on July 5, 2024.
Witnesses told WABC that the victims allegedly went back into the water around 8 p.m. after beach crowds headed for cover during a rainstorm. The police immediately searched the shore on foot and with boats for the girls. They were found around 9:30 p.m. and rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.
Initially, search and rescue teams were also looking for an adult who reportedly went into the water after the teens. However, police said Saturday that no adult was missing.
A pair of teenage girls drowned off Coney Island on Friday night after they ran back into the ocean following a brief downpour, according to cops and a report. The two girls, aged 17 and 18, went missing in the water around 8:10 p.m. near Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn before they were found on the shoreline at 9:15 p.m., police said. Both victims were taken to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, the NYPD said.
Cops initially received information about a 24-year-old man who was also missing in the water, but that report was later unfounded. Witnesses told ABC 7 that most people at the beach fled for shelter once it started raining. However, the teens ended up jumping back in the water even after a man tried to stop them. It’s unclear if the man knew them, but he couldn’t swim, and no one else could help the girls because of how rough the water was, ABC 7 reported.
Lifeguards at Coney Island are on duty between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to the city’s Department of Parks. Swimming is not allowed outside of those hours or in closed sections of the beach. The tragic deaths come a week after two teenage boys were swept away off Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways, Queens, and later found dead.
The two young victims were identified as 16-year-old Elyjha Chandler and his friend, 17-year-old Christian Perkins. Last summer, a 15-year-old was found dead days after he went missing in the water off Coney Island, according to reports at the time. His brother, 14, was rescued during the scary scene.
Police say two teenagers died after drowning in the waters off Coney Island in New York on Friday night. The two females, aged 17 and 18, went missing in the water at 8:10 p.m. Friday near Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn, the New York City Police Department told the New York Post. The pair of teenagers were found about an hour later on the shoreline, according to police.
The girls were taken to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. This comes a week after two teenage boys were found dead after being swept away off of Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways in Queens, according to the Post. The bodies of Elyjha Chandler, 16, and Christian Perkins, 17, were recovered on June 29 after they were swept away on June 21, the outlet reported.
Two teenage girls drowned in the waters off of Coney Island Friday night, police said. The girls, aged 17 and 18, were reported missing in the water near Stillwell Avenue and the Riegelmann Boardwalk around 8 p.m., authorities said. Emergency responders pulled the teens from the water around 9:30 p.m. They were taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead, police and the FDNY said.
Lifeguards are on duty at Coney Island from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day. Police sources said the girls were sisters. Their names weren’t immediately released, and an investigation is ongoing. Their deaths came two weeks after two teenage boys drowned after going into the water at Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways. City officials urged New Yorkers to follow swimming safety guidelines and called for new safety measures for swimmers after the boys’ bodies were found.
Source: WABC, ABC 7, New York Post
