Teen sisters dead after pulled from water off Coney Island
CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Two teenage sisters have died after being pulled from the water at Coney Island Beach.
Officers responded to Stillwell Avenue and the boardwalk just after 8 p.m. Friday. Officers were frantically running up and down the shoreline with flashlights.
Witnesses say it happened when it started raining and everyone on the beach ran for cover by the restrooms.
The two teens, 17-year-old Zainab and 18-year-old Aisha Mohammed, decided to go back into the ocean. According to witnesses, a man tried to stop them but he apparently couldn't swim either. It is unclear if the two teens knew the man.
Beachgoers watched helplessly but no one wanted to go in because of how rough the waters were.
"A guy, he saw the two little girls asking for help so he tried to help but he also went into the water but he can't swim either," a witness told Eyewitness News.
Around 9:30 p.m., first responders pulled the 17 and 18-year-olds out of the water and rushed them to Coney Island Hospital where they were later pronounced dead.
The 17-year-old and 18-year-old girls were taken to the hospital.
Police say Initial reports that a 24-year-old man who attempted to save the two also went missing is not true.
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