Teen sisters die after being pulled from Coney Island water

NEW YORK - Two teenage sisters pulled from the water in Coney Island have been pronounced dead.

The two teens, 17 and 18, went into the water Friday night at around 8 p.m., after lifeguards were off duty.

Emergency responders arrived on the scene with boats and divers.

The girls were pulled from the water in critical condition at around 9:30 p.m. and rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead just after 10 p.m. Their names haven't yet been released.

"I saw a lot of cops and firemen running towards the situation, and then the next thing you know, the family of the victims they go to the same area but were told to go to the boardwalk," witness Danny Quinones said. "It's a very tragic event."

Initially, authorities believed they were looking for a third person, but it turns out there was no third person in the water.

Officials have repeatedly cautioned beachgoers not to enter the water whenever lifeguards are not on duty.

Swim safety in focus in NYC

Just two weeks ago, teenagers Elyjha Chandler and Christian Perkins died after disappearing in a wave at Jacob Riis Beach. Authorities spent days searching for them. The deaths prompted Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and other leaders to call for changes to improve safety at city beaches .

One of their proposals was to extend the hours lifeguards are on duty at beaches, but the Parks Department said that would create new problems, since those lifeguards spend hours in the sun as it is and "the job is extremely susceptible to exhaustion and fatigue... and adding more more hours to their regular hours would put undue stress on them and would inhibit their ability to properly surveil the beaches and keep beachgoers safe."