Demands for a federal investigation mount as witnesses and survivors of a gangway collapse at a dock in Georgia describe the “catastrophic failure” that killed seven people traveling for a festival celebrating Gullah Geechee history.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, Regina Brinson described being on the dock when she heard a crack. She was with several people who were trying to board the final ferry to Sapelo Island on Saturday.
Brinson said she turned around to see the metal walkway crumple, plummeting her and several other people into the water beneath the ferry dock, including her uncle, Isaiah Thomas, 79.
Brinson held on to the side of the structure as Thomas grabbed her hand and clothes, pulling her head underwater. “I had to take his fingers, one by one, and peel them off of my shirt,” Brinson said while sobbing. “And I pulled him back up to the top, and I saw his face. And I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what did I do? What did I do?’ And he floated by me.”
Katrena Alexander added that she barely avoided being plunged into the water.
“There were just a few people behind us when we heard all the screaming and going on and so I turned around, and when I turned around, I couldn’t believe what I saw, and I was just shocked. I just couldn’t say nothing,” she said through tears.
All of the people who died from the collapse were 73 and older. They were Jacqueline Crews Carter, 75, of Jacksonville, Florida; Cynthia Gibbs, 74, of Jacksonville; Charles L. Houston, 77, of Darien, Georgia; William Johnson Jr., 73, of Atlanta; Carlotta McIntosh, 93, of Jacksonville; Thomas, of Jacksonville; and Queen Welch, 76, of Atlanta.
“We know that the infrastructure was inadequate, because had it been properly inspected, we would not be here today,” said LaShonda Holloway, McIntosh’s great-niece.
Alexander said she believes there was too much traffic on the gangway.
“They just told everybody to go,” she said. “And that was too many people. They were elbow to elbow, pushing because the last ferry that was going to leave was going to leave between 3 and 3:30.”
In a statement, attorney Ben Crump, who is representing some of the families, said “We will not rest until we uncover the truth behind this catastrophic failure and hold those responsible accountable. This should never have happened, and it is crucial that we prevent future tragedies by addressing the negligence that led to this horrific event.”
The structure was last inspected in December 2023, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which operates the dock. It is leading the state’s investigation into why the aluminum gangway, rebuilt in 2021, gave way. Crump called on the Justice Department to investigate, saying he does not trust the state to investigate itself.
“There needs to be a federal criminal investigation as well,” Crump said. “If people cut corners that led to the loss of life. Their lives matter. They were loved, they were cherished, and they should be here. They should be here.”
A local resident, JR Grovner, told Georgia Public Broadcasting that he notified a DNR captain three or four months ago that he believed the gangway was in shabby condition.
“I said, ‘This dock is going to collapse;’ I sure did,” Grovner said. “I was walking on it, and it was bouncing. So, I stood in the middle of it and bounced up and down for the captain. And he said, ‘Ah, it ain’t going nowhere.’ Yeah. Look what happened.”
The DNR, which operates the dock and the two ferries serving Sapelo Island, did not respond to an NBC News request for comment.
The 20 who plunged into the murky Duplin River had traveled to Sapelo Island last weekend to celebrate the Gullah Geechee people, a community with a unique blend of African culture and American life, descended from Africans who were enslaved on coastal plantations in the South. An estimated 700 people were on Sapelo Island last Saturday.
