Two young sisters die in Margate canal

For the second time in two days, a Broward family is mourning the loss of children found dead in a waterway.

The bodies of a 59-year-old grandmother and her 4-year-old granddaughter were recovered from a Miramar lake Monday morning. On Tuesday night, two young sisters were found dead in a Margate canal.

The sisters, 4-year-old Louidline Louima and 2-year-old Louidjiena Louima, were found unresponsive in a canal behind their house at 5977 NW 27th St., police said.

Police said the girls’ father Louigens called 911 shortly after 4:30 p.m. when he realized his daughters, who were playing outside unsupervised, were missing.

A neighbor, Tracey Noonan, who spoke to the girls’ father, told Miami Herald news partner CBS4: “They were out in the front yard, being outside together and he went in to get some water for them and he came out and they were gone. Just that fast. He said it was less than five minutes.”

Noonan told the station that he loaned his kayaks to police as officers and paramedics fanned out to search for the two girls.

First responders found the 4-year-old in the canal, pulled her out and began CPR. About 30 minutes later, Margate Fire Rescue divers found the 2-year-old unconscious and unresponsive.

Both children were taken to Northwest Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

The tragic event brings back memories of Sunday night’s drowning, when Laura Fleming and her granddaughter Leila had gone to a lake near their Miramar house in the 2200 block of Southwest 164th Avenue to feed the ducks.

The two had gone to the lake, a short walk from the family’s backyard, many times before, the family told police. But neither knew how to swim. Witnesses say the pair walked around, aiming for a bench near the lake.

This story was originally published October 15, 2014 at 8:18 AM with the headline "Two young sisters die in Margate canal."