7 dead, 6 injured after Sapelo dock collapse

Caption

People file out of Elm Grove Baptist Church near the ferry dock. It's opened up for survivors of the accident.

Credit: Margaret Coker/The Current

Robin Gibbs, Mary Landers, Jabari Gibbs, Margaret Coker

Seven people are confirmed dead and several others are seriously injured after a ramp collapsed at the Sapelo Island Ferry dock. The collapse happened during Sapelo Island’s annual Cultural Day celebration of its Geechee residents, which drew about 200 people to celebrate the island community’s heritage. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is enroute to the scene.

More than 100 people were gathered at Elm Grove Baptist Church, about a quarter-mile from the mainland ferry launch, after the accident as ferries brought people back from the island. McIntosh County Sheriff’s deputies were controlling the area around the ferry terminal.

Sapelo Island resident Michael Walker confirmed deaths to The Current, and only seven have been confirmed at this time. Walker said his brother-in-law had been on the ramp as it crumbled.

Three survivors who got on the ferry —passengers 26, 27, and 28 — say they heard the ramp collapse behind them. They saw everyone fall into the water, including an older woman using a walker. The group, who had come from Florida to attend Cultural Heritage Day, said they watched four bodies, floating face-down in the water, pulled out to sea because of the low tide currents.

Members of the McIntosh County Shouters were among those who were swept into the water, according to County Commissioner Rogert Lotson. As far as he knows, none of the shouters died.

Many of those who were on the ramp and many of the injured and dead are elderly, Lotson said: “It is a big tragedy for the county.”

Two women who had attended the heritage festival were on their bus, waiting to get in line for the ferry, when they saw the chaos outside up ahead of them.

Festivalgoers jumped down to try to save people from the water, working to pull victims to safety and covering them with towels and blankets to keep them warm.

“There wasn’t a soul who wasn’t trying to help somebody,” one said.

Lotson said County Manager Patrick Zoucks and McIntosh County Emergency Management Agency head Ty Poppell were unable to confirm what had happened to the ramp. By 6:50 the last ferry was on its way back to the mainland. Three people were unaccounted for but it was unclear if they were in the water or had left the island without being checked off.

Josiah “Jazz” Watts told The Current‘s Mary Landers, “It is an awful situation.  The ramp has been repaired so that people can leave the island safely.  Never has anything happened like this.”

The McIntosh County Fire Department, the McIntosh Sheriff’s Department, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources — which runs the ferry between Sapelo and the mainland twice daily — and the U.S. Coast Guard were using boats and helicopters in search and rescue efforts. Emergency medical crews are on scene.

Caption

The Sapelo Island ferry dock on Saturday afternoon. A ramp collapse left several dead on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024.

Credit: Contributed

A source sent The Current a photo showing a ramp that apparently had collapsed into the water but was still attached to the Sapelo Island Ferry dock.

McIntosh County Commissioner Roger Lotson told The Current he was not on the island today, but that his brother, Darien City Councilmember Griffin Lotson had been but was not hurt.

“That dock was less than a year old,” Roger Lotson said. He speculated that it was possibly not the dock but the aluminum ramp that was damaged. He had also heard reports that “something” hit the dock.

“Even if the ferry hit the dock, you’d think the construction requirements would be that it could sustain that,” Lotson said.

In 2022, Freedman Engineering Group of Marietta applied for permits from Georgia DNR and the Corps of Engineers as part of planned improvements to the Sapelo Island Community dock.

Rachel Taylor posted on X that she had narrowly missed the collapse and asked people to pray for the victims.

“We had just left the island via ferry when the pier collapsed while others were waiting for the next one,” Taylor wrote. “Emergency vehicles all over. I’m sick.” She said she learned of the collapse during a stop at the visitor’s center: “There were so many people there, constant packed ferries and shuttles of people. So grateful to be safe with my family and heartbroken.”

Update: This story was updated at 8:06 p.m. to show official confirmation of seven fatalities.

Check back for updates on this developing story.