BROOKLYN — A 10-year-old girl died after she and her sister fell into the ocean off Coney Island while playing on a rocky jetty an hour after lifeguards had left the beach for the day, according to officials and reports.
Takara McDuffy and her 9-year-old sister were pulled from the water by passers-by near Stillwell Avenue about 7 p.m., according to the NYPD.
Takara was taken to Coney Island Hospital and pronounced dead, police said. The medical examiner's office will determine her cause of death.
Her sister was not injured, an NYPD spokesman said.
The two had been playing on a jetty that stretches out into the waves when they fell into the water, the New York Post reported. The NYPD couldn't confirm how the girls fell into the water.
Swimming is prohibited after the beach closes at 6 p.m. and lifeguards leave, according to the Parks Department website.
Police do not suspect any criminality, but said their investigation is ongoing.
Takara's death comes follows three other high profile swimming fatalities since the start of summer.
Two 13-year-old cousins drowned when they went for an after-school swim in the Bronx River on June 20.
Then a 21-year-old man was swept away by the current when he and some friends went for a predawn swim in the East River on June 26. His body was recovered on June 30 in Newtown Creek.
And on July 5, a 2-year-old girl wandered away from a family gathering in Prospect Park and drowned in the lake there.
