Lifeguards Left Coney Island. Then Came the 911 Call

Teen sisters, ages 17 and 18, drowned on Friday amid rip current warnings
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 6, 2024 10:30 AM CDT
2 Teens Drown Off Coney Island Beach
A scene at Coney Island Beach on May 24, 2020, in New York.   (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Two teenagers drowned while swimming at New York's Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn, police said. Police received an emergency call for a water rescue in the area of Stillwell Avenue and Boardwalk West at 8:10pm ET on Friday, the NYPD said in a statement, per the AP and PIX11. Arriving officers were informed two females, ages 17 and 18, had gone into the water and disappeared from view, police said. The teens were said to be sisters, per PIX11.

Police from the department's aviation, harbor, and scuba units conducted a search. Divers eventually removed both the young women from the water, police said. The swimmers were transported to NYC Health and Hospitals/Coney Island, where they were pronounced dead, according to police, who said an investigation continues.

The New York Times notes this is the second deadly incident at a New York City beach in less than a month, after two teens died swimming off the Rockaways in Queens in June. The outlet notes that a warning on the risk of rip currents developing had been issued Friday evening. The drownings reportedly happened after lifeguards had left for the day at 6pm. (More Coney Island stories.)

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