Two teenage sisters drowned while swimming off the coast of Brooklyn’s Coney Island during a thunderstorm Friday evening, the second such fatality on a New York City beach in less than a month.
According to the New York Police Department, Zainab Mohammed, 17, and Aisha Mohammed, 18, were reported missing after jumping into the ocean near Stillwell Avenue just after 8 p.m. Rescue divers rescued the sisters and they were taken to a hospital in critical condition, police and fire officials said.
They were later pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
Their father, Mohammed Faye, said he got a call from a relative in the city about 8:30 p.m. Friday to tell him his two daughters were missing and told to go to Coney Island immediately, he said in a phone interview Saturday.
“The whole family rushed to the beach,” Faye said.
For the next three hours, the family zigzagged from their Bronx home to the beach and then back to the police station, they said, before arriving at the hospital where Zainab was already pronounced dead and medical staff were trying to resuscitate Aisha.
The sisters had been at their grandmother’s house on Friday before going to the beach with other relatives, and Faye said she didn’t know why her daughters, who can’t swim, would go into the water in less-than-ideal conditions, especially so late in the evening.
Less than a day after the sisters’ deaths, a man was pulled dead from the water around 3:30 p.m. Saturday near Inwood Hills Park in Upper Manhattan. Police said the man was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital but died before arriving.
The deaths, which come two weeks after two teenagers died swimming off the Rockaways in Queens, mark a particularly deadly start to the summer season for New York City, where drownings have long been a problem. With more than two months to go, New York City has matched last year’s total of four deaths.
Forecasters had warned of a high risk of rip currents in the area Friday night. The incident was reported after lifeguards finished their shift at 6 p.m. Most of the recent drownings have happened outside of lifeguard hours, when swimming is technically prohibited.
Last July, a 15-year-old boy died while swimming off the coast of Coney Island, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s database of rip current-related fatalities.
Rip currents kill more than 100 people each year in the United States and are responsible for the majority of beach rescues. Instead of trying to return directly to shore, experts recommend calmly treading water, signaling for help, and swimming parallel to the shore until you reach an area beyond the rip current.
City officials announced plans earlier this year to use drones for rescues and drowning prevention after a severe lifeguard shortage last summer, and Mayor Eric Adams said at the time that the effort would start in Coney Island.
On Saturday afternoon, several of the girls’ cousins were scattered around the family’s apartment in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx, whispering over takeout food and a pot of rice simmering on the stove. Desk fans whirred in the background.
A family photo taken at Chuck E. Cheese’s 10 years ago still hangs on the wall, showing the girls smiling with Faye and another sister.
Fay recalled that she had driven her daughters to Coney Island a few times when they were young, but it had been at least five years since then.
“I wish they had asked me,” he said, adding, “I would have asked God to take me and leave them behind.”
Alice McFadden and Fluvier Meco Contributed report.
