JEDDAH: The deaths of Saudi-born sisters Rotana Farea, 22, and Tala Farea, 16, in New York’s Hudson River last October were the result of drowning by suicide, said the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Barbara Samson. “My office determined that the death of the Farea sisters was the result of suicide, in which the young women bound themselves together before descending into the Hudson River,” Samson said in a statement. The two bodies were discovered by a passer-by just before 3 p.m. on Oct. 24. The New York Police Department (NYPD) said police responded to a 911 call and “upon arrival, officers discovered two unidentified females unconscious and unresponsive with no obvious signs of trauma.” Emergency personnel declared them dead at the scene. An official at the Saudi Embassy in Washington refuted an Associated Press (AP) claim that the mother of the sisters said she had received a call from the embassy requesting that the family leave the US because the daughters had requested asylum.  “Any/all communications with the mother had nothing to do with a supposed asylum claim,” the Saudi official told Arab News.  The NYPD denied releasing any information regarding an alleged asylum request. The family declined an Arab News request for comment.