Georgia authorities will investigate the collapse of the dock gangway on Sapelo Island during a fall celebration held by the Gulah-Geechee community that left seven people dead.
Authorities called the collapse a “catastrophic failure” that should have never happened since the gangway was install in 2021. The Associated Press reported over 40 people were on the gangway when the Oct. 19 incident occurred, with more than half falling into the water upon its collapse.
Attendees had gathered to celebrate Cultural Day for Hogg Hummock, a small Black community on the Island. Formerly enslaved people established the area after the Civil War, and many of their descendants reside there today.
In addition to the seven people killed, none of whom were from the island themselves, eight were taken to the hospital. Of those hospitalizations, at least six were deemed critically injured.
Walter Rabon, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Resources, at a news conference. “There should be very, very little maintenance to an aluminum gangway like that, but we’ll see what the investigation unfolds.”