At least seven people were killed and several more injured Saturday afternoon after part of a ferry dock collapsed on Georgia’s Sapelo Island, authorities said.
At least 20 people went into the water when the gangway collapsed at about 4:30 p.m. local time on the Marsh Landing Dock, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which operates the dock, said in a statement provided to CBS News.
At least seven people were believed to have been killed and “an unknown number” were hurt, the agency said.
Georgia DNR and several emergency agencies had helicopters and boats deployed with sonar to conduct search and rescue efforts, it said.
The incident happened as crowds gathered on the island for a celebration of its tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.
Georgia DNR spokesperson Tyler Jones told the Associated Press he did not know what caused the gangway to collapse. The gangway connected an outer dock where people board the ferry to another dock onshore. The gangway has since been secured.
Among the dead was a chaplain for the Georgia DNR, Jones said.
Sapelo Island is about 60 miles south of Savannah and is reachable from the mainland by boat.
In a post to social media, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wrote that he and his family were “heartbroken by today’s tragedy on Sapelo Island. As state and local first responders continue to work this active scene, we ask that all Georgians join us in praying for those lost, for those still in harm’s way, and for their families.”
Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia also wrote in a social media post that Kemp had “sent state resources to aid in search, rescue, & recovery.”
Cultural Day is an annual fall event spotlighting the island’s tiny community of Hogg Hummock, which is home to a few dozen Black residents. The community of dirt roads and modest homes was founded by former slaves from the cotton plantation of Thomas Spalding.
Small communities descended from enslaved island populations in the South — known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia — are scattered along the coast from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say their separation from the mainland caused residents to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets.
