October 21, 2024
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Orange life jackets bobbed in the water, where bystanders rushed to form a human chain for passing survivors to safety. Others shouldered the task of wrapping bodies in blankets and carrying them to shore.
The frantic scene after an aluminum gangway collapsed Saturday at a boat dock on a Georgia barrier island capped what was supposed to have been a day of celebration, an annual festival spotlighting the culture and history of Sapelo Island's tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.
The collapse occurred as visitors were boarding a ferry back to the mainland. Officials say up to 40 people were standing on the gangway when it gave out. At least 20 plunged into the Atlantic waters, where a strong tidal current threatened to pull them out to sea.
“It was chaotic. It was horrible,” said island resident Reginald Hall, who charged into the water and was handed a young child to pass along to others forming a human chain 60 yards (55 meters) to the shore.
Seven people died and three others remained hospitalized Sunday, said Walter Rabon, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
He said an accident reconstruction team, working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, was working to determine what caused a “catastrophic failure” at the state-operated dock, which had been rebuilt in 2021.
“There should be very, very little maintenance to an aluminum gangway like that,” Rabon said.
Saturday was one of the busiest days of the year on largely unspoiled Sapelo Island, about 60 miles south of Savannah. An estimated 700 people traveled to the island for the Cultural Day festival organized by the few dozen residents of Hogg Hummock. The enclave of dirt roads and modest homes was founded after the Civil War by freed slaves from an island plantation.
Hog Hummock is among a shrinking cluster of small Southern communities descended from enslaved island populations known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia. Scholars say residents retain much of their African heritage — including a unique dialect and skills such as cast-net fishing and basket weaving — because of their separation from the mainland.
No bridge links the island to the mainland, and most rely on state-operated ferries for the 7-mile trip.
Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
But the community’s population has been shrinking for decades, and some families have sold their land to outsiders for vacation homes. Last year, county commissioners approved zoning changes that doubled the size of homes allowed in Hogg Hummock. That raised fears among residents that larger homes could spur tax increases that could force them to sell land their families have held for generations.
