Two people died in boating-related incidents in Tennessee during the Memorial Day weekend. Both deaths occurred Monday night (May 30, 2022). The first was on South Holston Lake in Sullivan County when a pontoon boat and a personal watercraft collided. The female passenger on the personal watercraft was killed and the male operator suffered severe injuries.
The body of a 19-year-old Rhea County woman was recovered from Watts Bar Lake early Tuesday morning after she reportedly got off a boat Monday night to swim and never resurfaced.
Both incidents remain under investigation. There have been 12 boating-related fatalities so far this year in the Volunteer State.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency confirms that there were two other incidents that resulted in serious injuries over the holiday weekend, and there was one involving property damage.
TWRA officers also made 25 boating under the influence arrests over the Memorial Day weekend.