NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- The search continued Friday for a 15-year-old swimmer, one of two brothers who were swept away in the waters off Coney Island Beach on Thursday afternoon.
The missing teen's 14-year-old brother was saved by good Samaritans and reunited with his family.
But the 15-year-old couldn't be located Thursday during a three-hour search of the beach that included lifeguards and members of the FDNY and NYPD. Local officials said it's presumed to be a recovery effort 24 hours later.
The two brothers went swimming despite warnings from other beachgoers that red flags along the beach indicated no lifeguards were on duty amid a severe shortage citywide.
The boys went missing around 12:30 p.m. near W. 22nd Street and Surf Avenue, setting off the intensive search that was called off Thursday evening.
The NYPD Harbor Unit resumed searching the area Friday morning.
Despite what happened Thursday, swimmers were back in the water Friday at the same stretch of beach, ignoring the red flags.
The brothers are from the Bronx and their family was visiting friends in Brooklyn at the time of the tragedy, according to Coney Island Councilmember Ari Kagan, who said the city needs to get more lifeguards on beaches during the city's first heat wave of the summer.
"NYC Parks Department remains severely understaffed," Kagan tweeted. "NYC must hire more lifeguards & expand hours of operations during heat emergency. This tragedy was preventable."
Kagan said it's presumed the 15-year-old has drowned and the city needs to make sure no other lives are lost.
Julian, a father of six, was at the beach on Friday. He agreed the city must figure out a way to fill more lifeguard positions.
"It's all preventable," he said. "I understand there's no swimming, but kids are going to be kids."
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