Eyewitness Video Captures Frantic Efforts to Save Lives After Deadly Collapse of Dock Walkway

SAVANNAH, Ga.—The metal gangway where dozens of people waited to board a ferry boat made a loud, creaking noise before snapping in the middle amid panicked cries from those sent plunging into the water. Some clung desperately to the railing, while others began to float away with the tidal current.

“There was no time for anyone to get off,” said Icy White, who watched from about 30 feet away at the ferry dock on Sapelo Island. “It took seconds.”

White’s family was among hundreds visiting the isolated Georgia barrier island Saturday for a fall festival spotlighting the history and culture of its tiny Gullah-Geechee community of black slave descendants. The celebration gave way to tragedy when the gangway collapsed, sending seven visitors to their deaths.

White of Atlanta recorded video of the immediate aftermath on her cellphone and shared it with The Associated Press. It shows tourists and island residents jumping into action to rescue imperiled strangers and render aid to the injured in a remote location with few trained first responders initially on-site.

“There was no EMS that was there,” said Darrel Jenkins, White’s cousin. “We were the EMS.”

Crisis Unfolded on Island Isolated From Mainland

Largely unspoiled Sapelo Island, most of which is owned the state of Georgia, has no roads or bridges connecting it to the mainland. Residents and visitors typically rely on ferries operated by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to make the 7-mile trip.

Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon told a news conference Sunday an estimated 700 visitors showed up for the Cultural Day event hosted by residents of Hogg Hummock, a tiny enclave founded after the Civil War by slaves who had worked the island plantation of Thomas Spalding.

Rabon said his agency had 40 staff members working on the island during one of its busiest days of the year. The U.S. Coast Guard and local sheriff’s and fire departments later joined search and rescue efforts with boats and helicopters. But Rabon praised civilian bystanders for their efforts immediately after the collapse sent about 20 people into the water.

“Their quick response and action saved additional lives,” Rabon said.

A portion of the gangway which collapsed Saturday afternoon remains visible on Sapelo Island in McIntosh county, Ga., on Oct. 20, 2024. Lewis Levine/AP Photo

Video Shows Frantic Scene Immediately After the Collapse

White’s video shows people clinging to metal railing on the broken gangway, dangling at a steep angle into the water. Some holding on at the bottom are partly submerged, while those closer to the top extend hands trying to reach and pull them up. Others pass orange life preservers to those at the bottom.