This story was originally published by The Current GA.
At least seven people died and several others were seriously injured after an aluminum gangway collapsed at the Sapelo Island Ferry dock at the end of what was supposed to be a joyous day celebrating Georgia’s Gullah Geechee community.
Many of the more than 200 people who had attended the annual Cultural Day celebration were waiting to board the boat that services Sapelo when the aluminum ramp between the docks crumpled, sending upwards of 30 people, some elderly with walkers, into the water, according to eyewitnesses.
Under a warm late afternoon sun and amid strong sea breezes, Bill and Mary Humphrey had boarded the ferry shortly after 4 p.m., merely seconds before the accident. They heard the crack of the ramp breaking behind them and saw four bodies floating face down in the current being pulled out to sea.
“It was a slow motion kind of thing. It was just going down. They were all going down into the water,” said Bill Humphrey.
“We saw people floating face down in the water. It was the worst thing. I will never get that picture out of my head,” his wife said.
Many festival goers immediately jumped into the water to help those in need, pulling them out by hand and administering CPR, according to witnesses. The crew on the ferry also worked to throw life preservers to those in danger, according to a crew member.
Members of the McIntosh County Shouters, the Gullah Geechee singing group who performed at the festival, were among those pulled into the sea, according to McIntosh County Commissioner Roger Lotson, who represents the Black island community who are descended from enslaved people. As far as he knows, none of the shouters died.
Many of those who were on the ramp and many of the injured and dead were elderly, Lotson said.
“It is a big tragedy for the county,” he said.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which runs the ferry, confirmed that at least 7 people died, and 6 had been hospitalized locally. Two others were flown out in critical condition. DNR plans to brief the public at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Meridian ferry launch on the mainland, which is located north of the county seat.
By sundown, the last ferry had left Sapelo for the mainland, but not everyone had been accounted for.
Family members of Sapelo residents and descendants frantically searched for their loved ones amid unstable cell phone connections in Meridian.
The nearby Elm Grove Baptist Church had been opened as a reunification center. Approximately 100 people who had made it back from Sapelo by ferry safely gathered there, many looking shell-shocked.
Two Atlanta college students who had attended the heritage festival described the chaos on the island when disaster struck. Festival attendees jumped down to try to save people from the water, working to pull victims to safety and covering them with towels and blankets to keep them warm, they said.
“There wasn’t a soul who wasn’t trying to help somebody,” said Joyita Davis, an Interdisciplinary Studies student with a concentration in Africana studies from Georgia State University.
The McIntosh County Fire Department, the McIntosh Sheriff’s Department, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources — which runs what is normally a twice daily ferry schedule — and the U.S. Coast Guard used boats and helicopters in search and rescue efforts.
McIntosh County Sheriff’s deputies kept a cordon around the ferry terminal in Meridian. A spokesperson for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Saturday evening that DNR was leading the investigation.
Lotson, the county commissioner, told The Current GA that the dock “was less than a year old.”
In 2022, Freedman Engineering Group of Marietta applied for permits from Georgia DNR and the Corps of Engineers as part of planned improvements to the Sapelo Island Community dock.
The shock of the tragedy lingered long after sundown.
“This is … one of my first instances like this, where it was just really chaos. And I’m honestly like, I’ve never seen like so many people doing CPR,” said Laila LeRoy is a double major in environmental science and African studies at Georgia State University.
Rachel Taylor posted on X that she had narrowly missed the collapse and asked people to pray for the victims. Her husband, Steve, had brought their family to the celebration from Buford, S.C.
“We had just left the island via ferry when the pier collapsed while others were waiting for the next one,” Taylor wrote. “Emergency vehicles all over. I’m sick.” She said she learned of the collapse during a stop at the visitor’s center: “There were so many people there, constant packed ferries and shuttles of people. So grateful to be safe with my family and heartbroken.”
President Joe Biden released a statement Saturday evening: “We are heartbroken to learn about the ferry dock walkway collapse on Georgia’s Sapelo Island. What should have been a joyous celebration of Gullah-Geechee culture and history instead turned into tragedy and devastation. Jill and I mourn those who lost their lives, and we pray for the injured and anyone still missing. We are also grateful to the first responders at the scene. My team is in touch with state and local officials, and we stand ready to provide any and all assistance that would be helpful to the community.”
Gov. Brian Kemp said he was “heartbroken” about the tragedy. “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,” he said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, who represents the area, also sent a message: “My thoughts and prayers are with Sapelo Island today, following the tragedy at the ferry dock. Governor Kemp has sent state resources to aid in search, rescue, & recovery. Thank you to everyone who stepped up in the wake of this heartbreaking loss.”
Update: This story was updated at 8:06 p.m. to show official confirmation of seven fatalities.
Correction: 9:18 p.m. Oct. 19, 2024: This article was updated to correct a quote from Carolyn Rader that had been misattributed.
Credit: The Current GA
Credit: The Current GA
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