Two New York women died Saturday after a pontoon boat in Eustis flipped over, dumping seven passengers into the water, authorities said.
The victims were identified as Farhana Nasir, 53, of Selden, and Kiran Akbar, 23, of Lake Grove.
The tragic accident, which happened on Flagstaff Lake, is under investigation.
Seven people were boating on the lake in an 18-foot Sea-Doo Switch Pontoon boat, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
As the year-old boat approached the beach area of Cathedral Pines Campground, its bow started to dip underwater, authorities said.
The driver, John Morris, 50 of Eustis, attempted to raise the bow, but it continued to go under.
Despite Morris’ attempts to raise the bow, the boat flipped, throwing everyone into the water.
The vessel was about 180 feet from shore when it went over, officials said.
Witnesses on shore and out on the lake pulled all the passengers from the water and brought them to shore.
Nasir, Akbar and a third passenger, Noor Nassir, 22, also from Long Island, New York, were unresponsive when they were removed from the water.
The witnesses performed CPR on all three, but Nasir and Akbar died at the scene.
Nassir was flown comatose to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. A friend, Zeeshan Abbasi, said doctors see little hope for her survival.
None of the passengers were wearing lifejackets, officials reported.
In an unrelated event on Monday, a 1956 Cessna 170B float plane crashed into Flagstaff Lake. Its 62-year-old pilot, a Readfield man, and one passenger were rescued.
Flagstaff is a 20,300-acre lake – one of the state’s biggest – straddling Franklin and Somerset counties created in 1950 by damming the Dead River to create a hydroelectric power source.
The North Branch Dead River and South Branch Dead River join in the lake, also known as a reservoir, forming the Dead River.
The lake is widely known among locals and historians for a mid-air military collision in 1959 that took the lives of two airmen.
During an Air Force exercise on Nov. 3, 1959, a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star simulated an enemy aircraft approaching from the east while ground-controlled interception directed two Convair F-102s to intercept it.
One of the F-102s got too close and its wing cut the tail off the T-33.
A crewman aboard T-33 died when he became tangled in his chute and landed upside down.
The T-33 was discovered in pieces in 1959 and 1960.
Searchers in 1979 found the F-102 in the lake but its pilot was never found.
