Georgia: Authorities investigate 'catastrophic failure' of pier walkway that collapsed and killed seven people

Authorities said they were investigating the “catastrophic failure” of a pier walkway that collapsed and killed seven people on Sapelo Island, Georgia.

Crowds had gathered for a fall celebration hosted by the island’s small Gullah-Geechee community of descendants of black slaves.

The footbridge, installed in 2021, was crowded with people waiting for a ferry when it collapsed, sending at least 20 people plunging into Atlantic waters off the state’s coast.

Eight people were taken to hospital and three remain in critical condition.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon said, “This is a structural failure. There should be very, very little maintenance on an aluminum walkway like that, but we Let’s see what the investigation turns up.”

He added that “more than 40 people” were on the footbridge when it collapsed.

Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard and others subsequently searched the water and early Sunday, a team of investigators was on scene to begin the investigation into the failed walkway.

Natural Resources spokesman Tyler Jones said there was “no collision” with a boat or anything else, adding: “The thing just collapsed. We don’t we don’t know why.”

After a lawsuit filed by residents, the ferry docks were rebuilt in October 2020 because they did not meet federal accessibility standards for people with disabilities.

The state demolished and upgraded docks and ferries to accommodate wheelchair-bound and hearing-impaired people.

The deadly collapse occurred as residents, family members and tourists all gathered for Cultural Day, which highlights Hogg Hummock, home to a few dozen black residents.

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The community of dirt roads and modest homes was founded after the American Civil War by former slaves on the cotton plantation of Thomas Spalding, a late 18th-century American politician.

Roger Lotson, the only black member of the McIntosh County Board of Commissioners, whose district includes Sapelo Island, said Hogg Hummock’s descendants of slaves were a “family” and “everyone knows each other.” .