ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's attorney general brought in an engineering firm to conduct an independent investigation into a fatal dock collapse on Georgia's Sapelo Island during a celebration for the historic Gullah-Geechee nation founded by Black descendants of slaves.
Georgia's Department of Natural Resources, which operates the dock, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have already launched a state investigation into last weekend's incident. The state probe will continue as the firm, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates conducts its own.
Seven people, all of them over 70, died after the aluminum gangway collapsed Saturday. Officials say around 40 people were standing on the dock when it snapped and about 20 plunged into the water, many of them sucked into heavy currents as they struggled for air. Eight were taken to the hospital, and at least six were critically injured.
Two of the victims are still hospitalized as of Thursday, authorities said.
The state investigation could take a long time as the agencies interview witnesses and collect other evidence, including an inspection of the gangway at a “secure facility,” Walter Rabon, the Commissioner of Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources, said Tuesday, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
Rabon said the gangway was inspected by Georgia-based Crescent Equipment Co. less than a year ago and by the Department of Natural Resources after the recent hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The department oversees the dock's operations on the island, which is only reachable by boat and has no medical facilities. Seven hundred people were visiting Hogg Hummock on Saturday for the Gullah-Geechee people’s annual Cultural Day festival celebrating the community’s history. That day, the island buzzed with activity despite ongoing gentrification and tax hikes. Many Gullah-Geechee members have left the island for places with more opportunities and infrastructure.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing relatives of three of the dead, said Tuesday that he doesn't trust the state to investigate the collapse. He called for the Department of Justice to investigate.
The 80-foot (24-meter) gangway should have been able to carry 320 people, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The dock was rebuilt in 2021 after residents sued Georgia officials over federal accessibility standards for people with disabilities on ferries and docks.
Hogg Hummock residents also argued in the 2021 lawsuit that McIntosh County didn’t provide enough emergency resources on the island. In a settlement with the community, McIntosh agreed to improve emergency services in part by building a helicopter landing pad. Residents say the launching pad has yet to be built. A helicopter evacuating people after the collapse instead landed in an overgrown field.
Members of the Gullah-Geechee community on and off Sapelo Island are still in mourning. Residents in Jacksonville, Florida, gathered for a prayer vigil to support grieving families Thursday at a local African Methodist Episcopal church with local pastors and politicians. Churchgoers honored those who died, who some now refer to as the “Sapelo Seven.”
