Aisha Mohammed, 18, and Zainab Mohammed, 17, two sisters originally from Nigeria living in the Bronx, tragically drowned at Coney Island Beach on Friday night, July 5. The teenagers were last seen entering the water near Stillwell Avenue and Boardwalk West around 8:00 p.m.
Witnesses reported that as a sudden rainstorm began, most beachgoers sought shelter, but the sisters entered the increasingly rough ocean waters. One witness noted that a man attempted to stop them but was unable to swim himself and could not reach them.
A relative shared that the sisters were at the beach with six of their cousins. An emergency water rescue call was placed at approximately 8:10 p.m., prompting a large-scale response from the NYPD’s aviation, harbor, and scuba units.
After an intense search through difficult currents and high waves, divers pulled the sisters from the water about an hour later. Both were rushed to NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island in critical condition, where they were later pronounced dead.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing. On Tuesday, July 9, hundreds of community members and local leaders gathered at the Yankasa Masjid Mosque in the Bronx for a funeral service to honor the lives of Aisha and Zainab.
Relatives described the girls as honor students with bright futures; Aisha had hoped to become a pharmacy technician, while Zainab aspired to be a doctor.
