DARIEN — As many as 40 people may have been on a gangway leading to a boat dock before it collapsed Saturday afternoon, resulting in seven deaths, a state official said Sunday.
Walter Rabon, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said the investigation into Saturday’s gangway collapse at Sapelo Island is ongoing. Approximately 20 people were sent into the water at Marsh Landing Dock when the gangway, which was completed in November 2021, gave way.
Rabon said at a Sunday news conference there was a “catastrophic failure of the gangway.”
Charles Houston, a former pastor at Statesboro First United Methodist Church, was announced as one of the victims of the tragedy. Houston moved to Darien in 2008 when he became chaplain for the DNR, after serving as pastor in Statesboro prior to that. He was an ordained minister in the UMC for 40 years.
“I can assure you the Department of Natural Resources critical incident reconstruction team will be working tirelessly with engineers and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to gather and preserve evidence and to interview witnesses,” Rabon said.
The Department of Natural Resources said the structure was last inspected in December.
All those on the dock have been accounted for, Rabon said. All seven who perished were visitors to the annual Cultural Day on Sapelo Island, a celebration of the island’s Gullah-Geechee heritage. Put on by the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society, the event is the organization’s biggest in celebrating the Gullah-Geechee heritage and community.
The event drew hundreds of visitors to the island, Rabon said.
After the gangway collapsed, DNR staff, McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office personnel and others dove into the water to try to rescue victims.
“Their quick response and action saved additional lives,” Rabon said.
The ferry Annemarie was tied up at the dock, awaiting passengers, and did not factor into the gangway’s collapse, Rabon said.
“It’s my understanding the gangway collapsed in the middle,” he said. “I can’t tell you at this point in time what happened.”
The DNR operates a state park on Sapelo Island, and Rabon said the traffic for the ferry on a typical day is about 100 people. The DNR was running two boats throughout the day to accommodate the estimated 700 people on the island Saturday.
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.
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.
Sapelo Island residents sued McIntosh County and the state of Georgia in federal court in 2015, arguing they lacked basic services including resources for handling medical emergencies.
State officials rebuilt the ferry dock in 2021 as part of a legal settlement. Residents reached a settlement the following year with McIntosh County, which agreed to build a helicopter pad on the island for emergency evacuations.
