A family vacation to Fort Lauderdale ended in catastrophe when a 13-year-old girl was killed and her teenage sister severely injured after their personal watercraft collided with a dock on the Intracoastal Waterway, officials reported. The Florida Highway Patrol chaplain and close family friend Rabbi Mark Rosenberg, in an interview with Local 10, shared the details of the tragic incident that took place yesterday shortly after 3:30 p.m.
The girls, according to Rabbi Mark Rosenberg, were riding "in tandem on a single vessel" when they struck a dock near Northeast 24th Court. Efforts to quickly save the sisters, Rachel and Aviva Nisavov, were unsuccessful for the younger sibling. Rachel was taken to the hospital but sadly died shortly afterward. Aviva is currently hospitalized and remains in stable condition. "The father ... he says he looked and they were gone," Rosenberg told Local 10, speaking on the parents' proximity to their daughters during the crash while also on a personal watercraft.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded to the scene of the accident. The surviving sister was transported to Broward Health Medical Center, according to initial reports communicated to 7News. Cellphone footage taken following the incident showed the girls' parents speaking with investigators.
The Nisavov family is from New York and had been on vacation in South Florida when the tragedy unfolded. An FWC spokesperson expressed the community's sense of loss, with Tyson Matthews saying, "This is a heartbreaking loss for everyone involved in this community," as quoted by 7News. The business that reportedly rented the watercraft was not operating according to neighboring shops in the aftermath of the accident.
Residents of the area, such as Renée Beninate, expressed their condolences, with Beninate telling 7News, "It's just really upsetting to hear. My heart and prayers go out to their family members right now." The funeral arrangements for Rachel Nisavov are currently being made, with her body to be returned to New York for the service before burial in Israel. The FWC investigation into the incident continues.
