The metal gangway where dozens of people waited to board a ferry made a loud, creaking noise before snapping in the middle amid panicked cries from those sent plunging into the water. Some clung desperately to the railing, while others began to float away with the current. "There was no time for anyone to get off," says Icy White, who watched from about 30 feet away at the dock on Sapelo Island. "It took seconds." White's family was among hundreds visiting the isolated Georgia barrier island Saturday for a fall festival spotlighting the history and culture of its tiny Gullah Geechee community of Black slave descendants. The celebration gave way to tragedy when the gangway collapsed, killing seven visitors.
White recorded video that shows tourists and island residents jumping into action to rescue strangers and render aid to the injured in a remote location, with few trained first responders initially on-site. "There was no EMS that was there," Darrel Jenkins, White's cousin, tells the AP. "We were the EMS." The US Coast Guard and local sheriff's and fire departments later joined search and rescue efforts with boats and helicopters. But state Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon praised civilian bystanders for their efforts immediately after the collapse sent about 20 people into the water. "Their quick response and action saved additional lives," Rabon said.
White's video shows people clinging to metal railing on the broken gangway, dangling at a steep angle into the water. Some holding on at the bottom are partly submerged, while those closer to the top extend hands to try to pull them up. Others pass orange life preservers down. At least a dozen people in the water can be seen drifting away, pulled by a strong current that threatened to drag them out to sea. Still recording on her phone, White runs into a parking lot shouting for others to come help. "Who can swim? Please, help! Help! Help!" she calls out. "The bridge fell! It fell! Please help! People are in the water!" The seven people killed were all seniors, ranging in age from 73 to 93, according to McIntosh County Coroner Melvin Amerson. Investigators are working to determine what caused the collapse. More here.
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