Fisherman missing after capsized boat sucked into dam spillway, Tennessee officials say

A fisherman is missing after his boat capsized on a Tennessee river and got sucked into a dam spillway, officials say.

Two men were aboard the fiberglass fishing boat on the Tennessee River around 10 a.m. Saturday when the boat overturned under the Fort Loudoun dam, The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wrote on Facebook.

The fishermen went overboard, the agency says, and the boat was sucked into the dam’s spillway.

Bystanders rescued one of the men who went overboard, and he was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, the agency says.

But the other man is still missing, TWRA says.

The TWRA said Saturday it is working with the Tennessee Valley Authority to shut off water discharge at the dam to safely search for the missing fisherman.

The boat has since washed out of the spillway and has “heavy damage,” the agency says. It remains in dangerous waters on the shoreline.

Spillways release excess water from a dam’s reservoir. When they do, they create a “strong flow of water” and a current that can “pull a powerful boat upstream toward plunging water that could shred any boat,” the TVA says.

Fort Loudoun — a 122-foot high, 4,190-foot long hydroelectric dam — is a “popular recreation destination” for bass fishing, boating and bird watching, according to the TVA.

No other information about the incident Saturday was released.