10-year-old girl killed in boating accident on Tennessee River

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A 10-year-old girl died in a boating-related accident on the Tennessee River in Decatur County on Saturday evening, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency confirmed.

The girl was on a tube being pulled by a pontoon boat when the outward motor contacted the tube and the girl, according to the TWRA investigation. The girl’s death was the only fatal boating-related incident over the July 4 holiday.

The incident remains under investigation by the TWRA.

There have been 16 boating-related fatalities on Tennessee waters in 2022 as compared to 13 the same time last year.

The TWRA said there was also a serious injury incident involving two juveniles in the Holder Branch area of Fort Loudon Lake near the Cove at Concord Park.

A personal watercraft was towing an inner tube with two juveniles onboard made contact into the side of an anchored pontoon boat.

The TWRA also reported eight property damage incidents.

As part of Operation Dry Water, the TWRA reported 25 boating under the influence arrests over the holiday weekend. There were nine arrests in Region III (Upper Cumberland/Chattanooga area), eight in Region IV (East Tennessee), seven in Region II (Middle Tennessee) and one in Region I (West Tennessee).

Operation Dry Water is a national weekend of awareness and enforcement campaign directed toward reducing alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities. Operation Dry Water is held with the Independence Day holiday to give boating under the influence (BUI) enforcement high visibility during the peak boating season.

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