7 Dead After Georgia Ferry Dock Collapses on Sapelo Island

Overall, 20 people were forced into the water on Saturday by the accident on Sapelo Island, the site of a festival celebrating the heritage of descendants of enslaved people.

Officials on a Georgia island on Sunday were investigating the collapse of a ferry dock gangway the previous day that killed seven people and left three others hospitalized. The dock was carrying people gathered for an annual celebration of a community of descendants of enslaved people.

The deaths, on Sapelo Island, were confirmed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which manages the island and operates its ferry service. The island is about 70 miles south of Savannah, Ga., by road.

The department said on Sunday that 20 people went into the water when the gangway collapsed, and that three people remained in critical condition. All of the people who went into the water have been accounted for.

Melvin Amerson, the McIntosh County coroner, identified the names on Sunday afternoon. All seven were visitors to the island: Carlotta McIntosh, 93, of Jacksonville, Fla.; Charles L. Houston, 77, of Darien, Ga.; Isaiah Thomas, 79, of Jacksonville; Jacqueline Crews Carter, 75, of Jacksonville; Cynthia Gibbs, 74, of Jacksonville; William Johnson Jr., 73, of Atlanta; and Queen Welch, 76, Atlanta.

Earlier, Mr. Amerson said he thought that most of the fatalities had been from drowning but that it wasn’t definite; autopsies would be performed this week.

The middle of the gangway, which was built in 2021, collapsed because of a structural failure, but the cause of that breakdown is still under investigation, said Walter Rabon, the commissioner of the natural resources department. He added that the gangway should have been able to carry the amount of people on it Saturday, and described the collapse as “catastrophic.”

“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones,” he said.

Hundreds of people visited Sapelo Island on Saturday to attend an annual festival that celebrates the heritage of the Gullah Geechee people, said Griffin Lotson, the mayor pro-tempore of the nearby city of Darien.

The Gullah Geechee, who live along the coasts of the Carolinas, Georgia and northern Florida, are descendants of enslaved West African people who were brought to the southeastern United States more than two centuries ago. The Gullah Geechee who live on Sapelo, a small island with only a few dozen permanent residents, are descendants of enslaved people who were brought there early in the 19th century.

The Sapelo Island festival honors their language, cuisine and art, said Mr. Lotson, a seventh-generation Gullah Geechee.

“The day is about all of the culture,” he said by phone late Saturday. “From Africa, to the way that it was on the plantation, to the 21st century with the young folks and what they do.”

Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that federal support had been offered to local officials to assist the community.

“Even in the face of this heartbreak, we will continue to celebrate and honor the history, culture and resilience of the Gullah Geechee community,” Ms. Harris said.

The cultural festival is organized by the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society, a nonprofit that helps to preserve the heritage of the Gullah Geechee people. The society said in a post on Facebook that it was “heartbroken” over the accident.

J.R. Grovner, who owns Sapelo Island Tours, a company that uses the dock, was on the scene shortly after the gangway collapsed. As he arrived, he said, he saw bodies floating in the Duplin River.

“Most of the bodies were already on the edge of the river, and people were pulling them up,” Mr. Grovner said by phone on Saturday night. He said he had helped to check some of their pulses as people at the scene administered C.P.R.

“I’ve been on Sapelo for 44 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Mr. Grovner said.

Kim Severson contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.