A 13-year-old girl has died and her sister has been left injured following a jet ski crash during a family holiday in Florida. Rachel Aliza Nisanov was pronounced dead after the jet ski she was riding on with her sister Aviva Brancha Nisano, 16, struck a dock at the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after 3:30pm local time. Both sisters were taken to Broward Health Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Aviva, who was driving the jet ski, remains in hospital.
The girls' brother, Yonah, told local media that the family had travelled from New York to Florida to celebrate Rachel's recent graduation. He said his sisters were "coming back to the dock" when "they lost control". Their father, a rabbi, was on another jet ski at the time.
Yonah added: "My father doesn't even know how to swim, he jumped in, my sisters were unconscious, their life jackets were on, they were lying flat and my father jumped in and scraped up his hands, feet, his back all over to save them."
Esteban Granados, owner of Prime Watersports, which rented the jet skis to the family, said the sisters had completed an online safety course before taking the jet skis out. He said: "It was their first time. That's why I was stressing all the safety instructions to them."
An investigation has been launched by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. New York State Attorney General Letitia James said: "My heart is with Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov and his family today as they mourn the passing of their daughter, and I'm praying her sister pulls through as she fights for her life. May Rachel Aliza Nisanov's memory be a blessing."
