Two teenagers died while swimming at Coney Island beach in New York, police said.
Police received an emergency call for a water rescue in the area of Stillwell Avenue and Boardwalk West at 8.10pm on Friday, the New York police department said.
Officers arriving at the scene were informed that two young women, aged 17 and 18, had gone into the water and disappeared from view, police said.
Officers from the department’s aviation, harbour and scuba units conducted a search. Divers removed both women from the water, police said.
They were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead, according to police, who said the investigation was continuing.
Witnesses told WABC-TV that a rainstorm began and most people at the beach took shelter, but the two young women went into the rough water.