No less than seven individuals have died after a part of a ferry dock collapsed in Georgia’s Sapelo Island on Saturday, native authorities say.
Georgia’s division of pure assets, which operates the dock, mentioned at the least 20 individuals plunged into the water when the gangway collapsed.
The incident occurred at roughly 16:30 native time (20:30 GMT) on the Marsh Touchdown Dock as crowds gathered for a cultural celebration.
A number of individuals have been taken to hospital and search and rescue operations are beneath means.
US President Joe Biden mentioned he and his spouse Jill mourn the lives misplaced and “pray for the injured and anybody nonetheless lacking”.
It’s not but identified what triggered the collapse of the walkway, which related an outer dock the place individuals board the ferry to a different dock onshore, in line with native reviews.
Brian Kemp, the governor of Georgia, mentioned he and his household have been “heartbroken” by the tragedy and requested for prayers “for these misplaced, for these nonetheless in hurt’s means, and for his or her households”.
The governor has despatched “state assets to assist in search, rescue, & restoration”, Georgia consultant Buddy Carter mentioned in a submit on X.
Native authorities mentioned the gangway has been secured and the incident is beneath investigation.
Biden mentioned his staff “stand prepared to supply any and all help that will be useful to the neighborhood”.
The annual occasion occurring on the time of the collapse celebrates the island’s neighborhood of Hogg Hummock, which is dwelling to a couple dozen Black residents.
Hogg Hummock was based by newly-freed former slaves from plantations in coastal Georgia who settled on Sapelo Island following the US Civil Conflict, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation said on its website.
Saturday’s occasion “ought to have been a joyous celebration of Gullah-Geechee tradition and historical past as a substitute was tragedy and devastation”, President Biden mentioned in his assertion.
Small communities descended from enslaved island populations within the South, often called Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia, are scattered alongside the coast from North Carolina to Florida.
Sapelo Island is reachable from the mainland by boat.
