TENNESSEE – A 65-year-old man who was competing in a bass tournament died Tuesday when his boat traveling at 70 mph struck a low hanging power line. Coroners say that Anthony Szozda of Athens, suffered above shoulder injuries and was almost decapitated.
The accident took place at 5:15 p.m. on the Tennessee River in western Morgan County near Trinity.
Jonathan Poole was driving the boat close behind the victim and said that the power line was just above the top of the water. “They never saw it,’ he said.
Marine police officer Larry Adams said the Tennessee Valley Authority had been working on the power line that stretches to Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. A TVA spokeswoman declined comment saying she was unaware of the accident.
Szozda was known among his friends as “Ski Daddy.” A fellow angler said, “He was just a good ol’ country boy like the the rest of us. He was a good guy.”
Photo: Gary Crosby Jr./Decatur Daily