Two Teenage Sisters Drown Off Brooklyn Beach
The New York Times
The girls, ages 17 and 18, went into the water near the Coney Island boardwalk as thunderstorms rolled in. It was the second pair of drownings off the city’s beaches in two weeks.
Two teenage sisters drowned while swimming off Coney Island in Brooklyn as a thunderstorm rolled into the area Friday evening, the second such fatal episode at a New York City beach in less than a month.
Zainab Mohammed, 17, and Aisha Mohammed, 18, were reported missing after going into the water near Stillwell Avenue shortly after 8 p.m., according to the New York City Police Department. Rescue divers retrieved the sisters, who were taken to a hospital in critical condition, police and fire officials said.
They were later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the police.
Their father, Mohammed Faye, said his family received a call at around 8:30 p.m. on Friday from other relatives in the city telling him that two of his daughters were missing. He was told to go to Coney Island immediately, he said in a phone interview on Saturday.
“The whole family rushed to the beach,” Mr. Faye said.
Over the next three hours, his family zigzagged from their home in the Bronx, to the beach and then to a police precinct station house, he said. By the time they reached the hospital, Zainab had already been pronounced dead and medical staff was trying to revive Aisha, he said.
