FORT MYERS, Fla. Marine safety officers are investigating a parasailing accident that killed a vacationing Kentucky woman and her teen-age daughter who dropped 250 feet into shallow water when a harness broke.

``It was like they fell on concrete,'' Rebecca Hamilton, Lee County's acting Medical Examiner, said yesterday.

Lisabeth Hope Bailey-Straney, 37, and Taylor Straney, 13, of Vine Grove in Hardin County died of massive internal injuries following their fall Wednesday at Fort Myers Beach, Hamilton said.

``It looks like they fell 250 feet into about seven or eight feet of water,'' she said.

People watched in horror, including Bailey-Straney's elder daughter, Kristin Bailey, 18, from Lawrenceville, Ga., and Kristin's friend Katherine Glackin, 18, from Radcliff, Ky. They were in the tow boat and were not hurt, said Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.

The mother and daughter were riding together, attached to one harness, when a sudden squall hit and winds gusted to 25 mph.

``It was like she just fell from the sky,'' said Clark Shedden who saw the accident from his beachfront condominium.

The U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Safety Office was looking into weather conditions, operation of the 20-foot vessel, Hang 'Em High, and license of the operator to determine if negligence was involved, said Lt. j.g. Steve Ward.

A finding of negligence could lead to license revocation or civil penalties following an administrative hearing, Ward said.

There was no immediate indication that the company AA Parasail and Waverunners, Etc., Inc. had any previous record and nothing to indicate the vessel had any prior problems, Ward said.

Company employees answering the telephone yesterday refused comment.

During the parasailing outing, weather suddenly soured when a front moved in at midafternoon. Winds picked up and a heavy downpour followed.

``How much a role this played we don't know yet,'' Ward said.

As the mother and daughter were being reeled toward the boat, the harness came apart and they plunged the equivalent of a 25-story building into the surf, authorities said. The rainbow-colored parachute floated over beachside hotels and landed in the street.

Stunned onlookers watching from their condos called 911. Paramedics rushed up minutes later.

``It went off like a rocket,'' said Klaus Westerville, of South Carolina. ``The parachute twisted three times, flying up, but the women started falling.''