photo submitted by Maylon Nicholson Six persons from Florida were seriously injured when the boat they were in struck a tree near the Cypress Pond boat landing. Shortly before dusk Saturday, a boat on Lake Seminole carrying six Florida residents hit a tree, injuring all passengers, a game warden with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said Monday.

Another boater in the area brought the injured to shore.

Two passengers were airlifted to Tallahassee for medical attention. The other four passengers were transported by ambulance to hospitals; two were taken to Dothan and two to Donalsonville.

The 20-foot fishand ski boat that crashed approximately 1 to 1-1/2 miles east of the Cypress Pond boat landing on the canal behind Sealey's Islands that connects Cypress Pond and Spring Creek.

Jeff Phillips, the DNR Game Warden based in Seminole County, said, "The canal is only 15 to 20 yards wide, and there have been incidents there in the past."

Maylon Nicholson, who sub- mitted to The Post-Searchlight photos of the boat still in the tree, said the accident happened on one of the narrow, shallow canals that connect the chain of lakes north of the big lake to Spring Creek and Fish Pond Drain.

"Many local residents have feared for years that such an accident was eventually going to happen because they are 'no wake zones'," Nicholson said. "The boat was powered by a 200-horsepower motor and was probably capable of speeds over 70 mph."

The incident is still under investigation.

DNR OfficerPhillips declined to speculate what the cause of the incident was or if speed was a factor in it.

Taylor Seay can be reached by e-mail at tsnews@epostprint. com, or telephone at (229) 246-2827, Ext. 117.