Rachel Aliza Nisanov killed in Fort Lauderdale watercraft crash while sister, Aviva Bracha Nisanov, survives after crashing into concrete dock after passing craft leads to volatile waters. Queens, NY sisters had traveled to Florida as part of graduation trip.
A New York teen girl has died while her sister was left critically injured after their watercraft crashed during a graduation trip in Florida this week.
Rachel Aliza Nisanov, 14, was celebrating her eight-grade graduation with a family getaway to Fort Lauderdale when she boarded a personal watercraft with her 16-year-old sister, Aviva Bracha Nisanov, Tuesday afternoon NBC 4 reported.
‘They were coming back to the dock from what I understand, and they lost control and they hit the dock, and they both went flying and hit the dock,’ their brother, Yonah, who witnessed the tragedy recalled.
Sisters’ father jumps in water in desperate bid to save his daughters
Their father, Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov, of Queen’s Bukharian Jewish community, was nearby on his own watercraft when he saw the girls fall into the water. The parent who doesn’t know how swim, nevertheless jumped in the water in a desperate bid to save his daughters.
‘My father doesn’t even know how to swim,’ Yonah told NBC4. ‘He jumped in. My sisters were unconscious.’
‘Their life jackets were on, they were lying flat and my father jumped in and scraped up his hands, feet, his back all over to save them. He did what he could,’ the brother added.
The sisters were rushed to the Broward Health Medical Center, where Rachel had succumbed to her injuries.
Aviva was listed in critical condition and had undergone surgery late Tuesday night. She remained sedated on Wednesday, Yonah said.
Investigation into Fort Lauderdale watercraft crash underway
The sibling described Rachel as a kind person who was ‘always going the extra mile’ for others. He said Rachel was the one most excited about getting on the boat.
Rachel’s body was flown back to New York, with her funeral being held Wednesday night at the Bukharian Jewish Community Center, in Forest Hills.
Following the service, her body will be flown to Israel for a traditional burial in Jerusalem the following day, the center said. The deceased teen leaves behind seven brothers and sisters along with her parents, the Miami Herald reported.
At the time of the crash, three personal watercraft were operating in the Intracoastal Waterway ‘as part of a guided tour,’ according to The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
During the tour, the sisters ‘jumped the wake of a passing vessel, lost control, and collided with a concrete dock,’ the FWC said during its preliminary findings Tuesday evening.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
