NEW YORK – Two teenagers have drowned after the couple entered the water at a Queens beach, city officials said.
Two 13-year-old boys were standing on rocks at Rockaway Beach, near Beach 121st Street and Jamaica Bay, when they fell into the water around 11:40 am, police officials said.
A team of at least nine rescue swimmers was dispatched to the beach and recovered the two boys who were later rushed to Jamaica Hospital, firefighters and police said.
The incident occurred on the bay side of the Rockaways, on National Park Service land. The department said the children were near the North Channel Bridge parking lot, where no lifeguards are stationed.
One of the children died shortly after the rescue, while the second fought for his life for hours until he died.
The children, who were with a group of friends, were transported to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition and later died, police said. Police said there were no other victims.
The circumstances that led to the boys falling into the water are still under investigation.
The tragedy comes just weeks after the city Parks Department announced that a stretch of beach on the ocean side of the Rockaways would be closed until mid-July to combat erosion. Swimming is currently prohibited between Beach 86th Street and Beach 116th Street. Many have criticized the decision, including lifeguards, who have pointed out that beachgoers could venture out and swim even unsupervised.
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