At least twenty people fell into the water when the incident occurred. The number of injured is not yet known, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said.
At least seven people were killed Saturday after a walkway collapsed onto a dock where a crowd of people were present on Sapelo Island in Georgia, in the southeastern United States.
«At least twenty people fell into the water when the footbridge collapsed. Currently, the number of victims is seven and the number of injured is not yet known“, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said in a statement.
The crowd was gathered on the quay where the ferries that connect this island, very close to the Atlantic coast, to the continent dock for an event of the small Gullah Geechee community, descendants of African peoples reduced to slavery on the coastal plantations of the South. is from the United States.
Biden evokes “a tragedy”
«What should have been a joyful celebration of Gullah Geechee culture and history turned into tragedy“, lamented American President Joe Biden, quoted in a White House press release.
Thanking the rescuers, he said his team would remain in contact with local authorities and would stand “ready to provide any assistance needed».
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims on X, adding that emergency services were still on site. An investigation is underway, local authorities said.
Isolated on confetti of land and mangroves scattered along the ocean, the ancestors of the Gullah Geechee relied on the resources of the land and the sea. They created their own culture, nourished by their origins, and even a Creole language.
