By Wealthy McKay
ATLANTA (Reuters) -A minimum of seven individuals had been killed after a part of a ship dock collapsed, sending at the very least 20 into the Atlantic waters off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia.
U.S. Coast Guard ships had been looking on Saturday evening for lacking individuals.
The accident, which additionally brought on a number of accidents, occurred throughout a celebration of Sapelo Island’s tiny Gullah-Geechee group of Black slave descendants, authorities mentioned.
A gangway crowded with individuals ready for a ferryboat collapsed late on Saturday afternoon on the Georgia barrier island about 60 miles (100 km) south of Savannah, mentioned Tyler Jones, a spokesperson for the Georgia Division of Pure Assets, which runs the ferry.
“We and a number of businesses are trying to find survivors,” Jones mentioned.
Vice President Kamala Harris, within the state capital Atlanta for marketing campaign occasions, issued a press release late on Saturday, saying the Biden administration was in shut contact with state and native officers and had supplied any federal assist wanted.
“Tonight, Doug and I are praying for all those that had been killed or injured within the collapse of the ferry dock walkway on Georgia’s Sapelo Island, in addition to their members of the family and family members,” Harris mentioned, referring to her husband, Doug Emhoff.
“Even within the face of this heartbreak, we’ll proceed to rejoice and honor the historical past, tradition, and resilience of the Gullah-Geechee group,” she added.
Coast Guard helicopters and boats outfitted with sonar instantly started search-and-rescue operations, officers mentioned. The reason for the accident was not instantly clear.
Sapelo Island is simply reachable by boat, and the state-run ferry takes about 20 minutes to achieve its shores.
Individuals had been marking Cultural Day, an annual pageant celebrating the island’s historic Black group, one in every of a number of surviving island communities from Georgia to North Carolina.
The individuals generally known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia, are believed to have retained a lot of their African heritage due to their isolation.
“Our ideas and prayers exit to all concerned, together with your complete Sapelo Island Neighborhood,” the Georgia Division of Pure Assets mentioned in a press release.
