Aisha and Zainab Mohammed drown after deciding to go for one last swim before heading home at Brooklyn’s Coney Island beach amid sudden weather change and warnings and pleas not to enter ocean.
Two teenage sisters drowned after being swept away by a current while swimming at Brooklyn’s Coney Island.
Aisha Mohammed, 18, and Zainab Mohammed, 17, traveled from their home in the Bronx to Coney Island in Brooklyn on Friday for what was suppose to be a ‘fun beach outing,’ only for tragedy to strike.
The siblings decided to head back into the water for one last swim around 8pm when suddenly the sunny day turned dark grey and torrential rain began.
‘The sisters started panicking…’
It’s at this point that fellow family members noticed Aisha and Zainab floundering in the water the nytimes reported.
Witnesses said a strong current grabbed the teens and pulled them out to sea as siblings tried to swim back to the beach.
Despite desperate measures by a cousin to swim out to rescue them, the relative was unable to save the sisters who by now were panicking.
Their cousin Adam Mohammed saw his brother swim out to rescue them, but was unable to haul them back to shore.
‘He didn’t know who to help first. He reached for the one closest to him and she started panicking, so she started dragging him down with her,’ a relative told the New York Post.
‘By the time he managed to get to the surface, the two were long gone.’
Sisters had gone swimming outside allowed hours
Aisha and Zainab were reported missing at 8.10pm near near Stillwell Avenue along Coney Island and police and emergency rescue responded to the scene, the NYPD said.
Their bodies were found on the shoreline about 9.15pm, and they were pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital.
WABC reported the teens entering the ocean as other people on the beach ran for cover amid rainfall. A witness told of attempting to stop the teens but was unsuccessful. Others reportedly did not want to enter the water due to the rough conditions.
The beach only has lifeguards between 10am and 6pm, which is the only time swimming is allowed.
The drownings occurred after forecasters warned of a high risk of rip currents building in the area Friday night earlier that day.
The beach outing was only the second time the sisters had ever traveled to the ocean.
Aisha and Zainab’s parents moved from Ghana decades ago and both the girls were born in the US.
Family members are now planning a memorial service for the sisters in the coming days.
