Two teenage sisters tragically drowned while swimming at Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn over the July 4 weekend. Aisha Mohammed, 18, and Zainab Mohammed, 17, from the Bronx, were reported missing on Friday night near Stillwell Avenue and Boardwalk West after they were seen entering the water and subsequently disappearing from view, according to the NYPD.
Witnesses recounted to WABC-TV that a rainstorm had begun, prompting most beachgoers to seek shelter. However, the two young women ventured into the rough ocean waters. A man attempted to stop them but was unable to swim himself, one witness noted. It remains unclear if the man knew the victims.
An emergency call for a water rescue was received around 8:10 p.m. Officers arrived on the scene along with emergency responders from the department’s aviation, harbor, and scuba units to conduct a search for the teens. Divers eventually pulled both young women from the water. They were transported to NYC Health and Hospitals/Coney Island, where they were pronounced dead. The investigation into the tragedy is ongoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The incident occurred just after 8 p.m. on Friday when calls came in about three people needing rescue in the water off Coney Island in Brooklyn, according to FDNY officials. After searching for more than an hour, the two teens were pulled from the water. Both were rushed to Coney Island Hospital in critical condition. Law enforcement sources confirmed overnight that the teens, who were sisters, had died at the hospital. Their identities were not released immediately.
Divers had initially been searching for a man believed to be in his 20s who was also reported missing in the water. However, police later clarified that there was no third missing swimmer.
This tragic event follows the drowning of two teenage boys last month at Jacob Riis Park, another popular beach in New York City. A recent spate of drownings from rip currents at beaches has raised concerns about this deadly phenomenon. In Florida, a Pennsylvania couple on vacation with their six children drowned after getting caught in a rip current while swimming at Stuart Beach. Additionally, three men from Alabama drowned last month after being caught in a rip current at Florida’s Panama City Beach.
Experts advise anyone caught in a rip current to stay calm, signal for help, and swim parallel to the shore, rather than toward it, until they are out of the current.
Beachgoers were relaxing and swimming at Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn on the Fourth of July, just a day before the two teen sisters drowned while swimming during a rainstorm on Friday evening. The teens, aged 17 and 18, entered the water after lifeguards were off duty and while a rainstorm forced others to seek shelter next to nearby restrooms at Coney Island Beach. Officers responded at about 8 p.m.
Witnesses said a man tried to stop them but couldn’t swim, and turbulent waters prevented other beachgoers from entering the water to try to save the teens as they struggled. “A guy saw the two little girls asking for help,” a witness told WABC. “He tried to help but he can’t swim, either.”
First responders pulled the teen girls out of the water at about 9:30 p.m. and took them to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead at about 10 p.m. “I saw a lot of cops and firemen running towards the situation,” witness Danny Quinones told CBS News. “The next thing you know, the family of the victims go to the same area but were told to go to the boardwalk.” Quinones called it a “very tragic event.”
The drownings occurred about two weeks after teens Elyjha Chandler and Christian Perkins died when a large wave swept them out to deeper water while swimming at Jacob Riis Beach. Local officials afterward called for lifeguards to be posted for longer hours at New York City beaches. However, officials at the city’s Parks Department said increasing lifeguards’ work hours would fatigue and exhaust them, affecting their ability to ensure safety for swimmers.
Two teenagers died while swimming at New York’s Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn, police said. Police received an emergency call for a water rescue in the area of Stillwell Avenue and Boardwalk West at 8:10 p.m. Friday, the New York Police Department said in a statement. Arriving officers were informed that two females, aged 17 and 18, had gone into the water and disappeared from view, police said. Police from the department’s aviation, harbor, and scuba units conducted a search. Divers eventually removed both young women from the water, police said. The swimmers were transported to NYC Health and Hospitals/Coney Island, where they were pronounced dead, according to police, who said the investigation continues. Witnesses told WABC-TV that a rainstorm began and most people at the beach took shelter, but the two young women went into the rough ocean water.
Source: The Associated Press, WABC-TV, CBS News, NBC New York
