At least seven people were killed after part of a ferry pier collapsed on Georgia's Sapelo Island, authorities said.
Multiple people were taken to the hospital, and members of the U.S. Coast Guard, McIntosh County Fire Department, Georgia Department of Natural Resources and other agencies were searching the water, Georgia Department of Natural Resources spokesman Tyler Jones said. . dock.
Mr Jones said the gangway on the pier collapsed, sending people into the water. It happened as crowds gathered on the island to celebrate the small community of the Gullah-Geechee people, descendants of black slaves.
“Seven people have been confirmed dead,” Jones said. “Multiple people were transported to area hospitals and we continue to search the water.”
Mr Jones said he did not know what caused the gangway to collapse, but authorities believe at least 20 people were on it at the time. A gangway connected the outer dock where people boarded the ferry to another dock on land.
Among the dead was a chaplain with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Jones said.
Sapelo Island is located approximately 97 km south of Savannah and is accessible by boat from the mainland.
Culture Day is an annual fall event highlighting Hog Hammock, a small island community home to a few dozen black residents. The community of dirt roads and modest homes was founded by former slaves on Thomas Spalding's cotton plantation.
Small communities (known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia) descended from enslaved southern islanders dot the coast from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say that separation from the mainland resulted in residents retaining many of their African traditions, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast net fishing and basket weaving.
