Georgia authorities investigate a deadly dock gangway collapse on a historic islandtoggle caption Lewis M. Levine/APSAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia authorities said Sunday they are investigating the “catastrophic failure” of a dock gangway that collapsed and killed seven people on an island off the state's Atlantic seacoast, where crowds gathered for a celebration by the island’s tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.
Sponsor MessageHundreds were visiting Sapelo Island for a Cultural Day event when disaster struckThe gangway, installed in 2021, gave way as an estimated 700 people visited largely unspoiled Sapelo Island, about 60 miles south of Savannah and 7 miles offshore.
Installed in 2021, the gangway connected an outer dock where people board the ferry to another dock onshore.
And Watts, Hall and JR Grovner said they weren't aware of any family members of island residents among the dead.
Tax hikes and local zoning changes have been met with protests and lawsuits by Hogg Hummock residents and landowners.