2 Women Dead, Another in Coma After Pontoon Boat Capsizes on Maine Lake

Two women are dead and another woman is in critical condition after a pontoon boat flipped over on a lake in western Maine, sending all seven people on board into the water, authorities said.

On Saturday, Aug. 30, around 1:30 p.m. local time, the group on the 18-foot boat left the dock and was boating in the upper reaches of Flagstaff Lake in Eustis when they arrived in front of the beach area of a campground, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said in a statement.  

There, the bow of the pontoon started to go under the water, prompting the boat operator, 50-year-old John Morris, to try to raise the bow, officials added.

The man’s actions didn’t stop the pontoon from going under. Instead, “the boat flipped, throwing all seven passengers into the water approximately 180 feet from shore,” the agency said. 

Fortunately, people nearby on the beach and in the water rushed to help the group, bringing them all to shore. Three people were unresponsive and received CPR, officials said.

Kevin Carter, a retired firefighter from Massachusetts, happened to be camping close by and helped administer CPR, ABC affiliate WMTW reported. 

“Being a retired firefighter, you just step in, you know, it’s in the blood,” he told the outlet. “So I just went down there not really knowing what to expect, and the second I got out of my car, I heard people yelling, and it was pretty chaotic.”

While passersby called 911, first responders didn’t arrive until 45 minutes later because of the remote location, WMTW reported.

Two of the women — Farhana Nasir, 53, and Kiran Akbar, 23 — were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. The third woman, Noor Nasir, 22, was taken to a hospital in Bangor and was listed in critical condition. 

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the state’s medical examiner’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

A family friend of the victims, Zeeshan Abbasi, told WMTW that the 22-year-old victim is now in a coma.

“I see that beautiful girl, lying in the hospital, fighting for her life,” he told the outlet. “And the doctors said, or almost said, that there is no hope.” 

Both the elder Nasir and Akbar hail from Long Island, while the surviving woman lives in New York City, according to officials. For their loved ones, it’s a heartbreaking tragedy.

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“I’m so devastated, I cannot explain,” said Abbasi, according to the outlet. “This is a nightmare because all these kids, they are now young adults, but they grew in front of my eyes.” 

Officials said that none of the passengers on the boat were wearing life jackets at the time of the incident, and alcohol is not believed to have been a factor in the crash. An investigation is ongoing.