GREENVILLE – Six young people were injured, three of them seriously, when their 18-foot open-bow boat crashed into a fog-shrouded rock wall on a small island south of Harfords Point in Moosehead Lake early Wednesday morning.

Zach Brewster and Patti Weingart, who had been following in another boat, rescued the six people, one of whom was trapped as the first boat began to sink. The ages of the two Greenville residents are unknown.

Laura Harris, 19, and Kristen Gauvin, 22, both of Greenville, and Danny Melrose, 17, of Rockwood were taken immediately to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Nathan Woodbury, 18, Taylor Stanton, 16, and Colin Arey II, 15, all of Greenville, were taken to Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital in Greenville. Arey later was transferred to EMMC, where he was listed in fair condition. An EMMC spokesman said Melrose was in critical condition, Gauvin was in fair condition and Harris was in good condition Wednesday afternoon. Most of them suffered from upper body injuries, according to one investigator. Woodbury and Stanton were treated at the Greenville hospital and later released.

Few details about the accident were available Wednesday because investigators were trying to sort out conflicting information provided by the victims. Warden Sgt. Roger Guay of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said the young people had been “partying” and had “been out there anchored or adrift hanging out” before the accident on the unnamed island. He said he was unsure where the young people had been earlier.

“There is evidence alcohol was involved, but we don’t know at this time if it contributed to the accident,” Mark Latti, DIF&W’s spokesman, said Wednesday afternoon. He said the boat was equipped with life jackets but wardens were unsure whether they were used.

The accident was reported at about 2:40 a.m., when Brewster called the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department on a cellular telephone that was in the boat. He reported that a boat ahead of them on the lake had struck land and people were injured, according to Warden Guay. Guay said the caller thought the accident was near Squaw Village.

Greenville Town Manager and Intermediate EMT John Simko, who was on duty that night, said there was much confusion as to where the boat had crashed.

“We were told that a boat accident had occurred at the marina at Squaw Village and four victims were hurt seriously,” he said.

Wardens, Greenville firefighters and Simko’s crew went to Harfords Point to check the area but found nothing amiss.

“When no one was there, we worked backward from Squaw Village toward town checking all the access points on the water in a coordinated effort between the warden service, the fire department and C.A. Dean Ambulance,” Simko said. From later radio traffic, the searchers learned that six people were injured, one was trapped in the boat and the boat was sinking.

As searchers scoured the shores looking for the boat and wardens and firefighters began to organize a water search, Brewster described places that he could see through the fog. At one point, he reported he could see a rotating beacon, which wardens believed was the airport beacon.

When Roger Currier of Currier’s Flying Service heard the report of a boat crash, he got up and went outside. He said he could hear some people hollering across the water in the direction of Squaw Village.

“I called the county police department and told them what I was hearing and the direction from which I was hearing it,” he said.

“What baffled me is that shortly after that, I heard female voices and the noise [heard over the water] had moved,” Currier said. By this time, Currier said he could see a searchlight aimed in his direction in the fog.

“All of a sudden a boat comes zigzagging out of the fog,” he said. Currier said he directed the boaters to a permanent dock next door to his home.

“The scene was sort of mayhem,” Simko said, as wardens, firefighters and ambulance personnel tended to the injured and lifted them out of the boat for transport to the hospital. Some were yelling and screaming from their injuries, he said.

“It took awhile to properly extricate the victims from the boat because of the nature of their injuries and the difficulty of getting in and out of the boat,” Simko said. At times there were six rescuers inside the boat helping to treat and lift the victims for transport, he said. Four ambulances, two from Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and two from Charles A. Dean, transported the injured. Mayo’s units took the most seriously injured to EMMC.

Greenville Fire Chief and EMT Mike Drinkwater said it was extremely difficult to handle the wounded. “It was unique for us, especially for the number of injured people and because the work area was so small,” he said.

“They’re [the injured] sitting in the seats and you’re [rescuers] trying to hang onto the side of the boat all the while the boat is moving with the dock,” Drinkwater said. “We checked and double-checked before we made a move to make sure everyone was ready at the same time. Every time someone moved their weight, the boat moved,” he said.

“Safety was the big issue, not only for the victims but for the caregivers,” Drinkwater said. He said the wardens, firefighters and ambulance personnel exhibited tremendous teamwork over the two hours it took to get victims on their way to medical facilities.

Betsey Brewster, Zach’s aunt, said she was extremely proud of Zach and Patti Weingart, who pulled the victims from the water and took them to shore. Brewster said her thoughts were with all of the children and with their families.

Simko said the circumstances could have been much more grave.

“These were kids unfortunately doing all the wrong things, and because of that they are lucky to be alive,” he said. Had there not been a second boat and had there not been a cellular telephone on board, the circumstances could have been very different, he said.