Knox man dead following car crash on 'The Dragon'

A 69-year-old Knox County man has died of his injuries following a single-car crash Thursday near the North Carolina line on a stretch of U.S. Highway 129 known as “The Dragon,” authorities said.Harold Roy Sheely, of Knoxville died after being airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

The driver, Tiffany Bell, 21, of Oak Ridge was seriously injured and was listed in critical but stable condition Thursday night, according to a BCSO news release.

The two were traveling south about 11:36 a.m. when their 1994 Mazda Miata left the roadway at a sharp curve near mile marker 2, the news release states.“The vehicle went off the embankment and went airborne before striking a tree on the passenger door about 8 or 10 feet in the air,” the release reads.

The Miata came to rest at the base of the tree.Both occupants were wearing seat belts and the car’s air bagsdeployed, the sheriff’s office said.