Sunday, October 02, 2005

Death on Lake George

I spent quite a bit of time up in Lake George over the years. It was a great place to visit and I had taken the boat tours on a number of occasions. The lake is set among picturesque mountains and while the South end is a tourist trap, driving around the lake can take you back to another era. Fall is a great time to sightsee as the trees are getting into peak season.

Today, one of the pleasure boats on a sightseeing tour capsized and 21 people were killed and 27 others were injured and taken to nearby hospitals. The boat involved, a 40-footer, the Ethan Allen was bein rented out for a scenic cruises. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the boat capsized and quickly sank. Apparently many of the people on board were senior citizens who were unable to react quickly enough to the boat capsizing to put on life preservers. While some reports say that the group on board were from Canada, there are indications that this was a seniors group from Michigan.

Police are looking at whether the wake from another boat may have contributed to the accident.

Shoreline Entertainment Complex runs the cruise and should not be confused with the much larger Lake George Steamboat Co, which operates out of the South end of the lake and has the largest boats on the lake.

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