Baby drowns; mother, a Chabad emissary, critically injured in Virgin Islands

A Chabad emissary couple’s 4-month-old girl drowned, while the mother was in critical condition, apparently after trying to save the child from the water in St. Thomas, part of the US Virgin Islands, local media reported.

Henya Federman, who is co-director of Chabad of St. Thomas, and her daughter Shterna Sarah, fell into the water in Oasis Cove Marina on Tuesday, according to the reports.

Israel’s Channel 12 said Thursday the family was on an outing when the baby fell into the water. Henya jumped in to save her, and her husband, Rabbi Asher Federman, followed, the report said. Local police are examining security camera footage from the scene to determine what happened, the network reported.

Henya Federman was pulled from the water without a pulse. Emergency personnel were able to restore her heartbeat and took her to Schneider Regional Medical Center, where she is on life support, the Yeshiva World news website reported.

Shortly afterward, the girl’s body was found in the water.

The Federmans have 12 other children aged from one to 17.

The Hatzolah emergency service was arranging to fly the Federmans and the remains of their daughter to Miami, the Yeshiva World report said.