The aluminum gangway suffered structural failure as historic Sapelo Island hosted an event celebrating its Gullah Geechee history and culture.

Georgia authorities said Sunday they are investigating the “catastrophic failure” of a dock gangway that collapsed and killed seven on Sapelo Island, where crowds had gathered for a fall celebration by the island’s tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

Investigators have begun looking for reasons behind the failure at a ferry dock on Sapelo Island, the site of a festival celebrating the heritage of descendants of enslaved people.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon said Sunday morning that at least 40 people were on the gangway and that half fell into the water. The dock gave way before 4 p.m. in a "catastrophic failure," prompting a response from the Coast Guard and state and local agencies.

SAVANNAH, Ga. ‒ "Catastrophic failure" was blamed Sunday for the collapse of a dock gangway that killed seven people and plunged more than a dozen others into murky waters, bringing tragedy to a cultural festival on historic Sapelo Island.

The "catastrophic failure" of an aluminum ferry gangway caused the deaths Saturday of seven people who were attending an annual cultural event on historic Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia, officials said Sunday.

Officials were on location in Georgia Sunday investigating the collapse of a ferry dock gangway that left seven people dead and six others critically injured Saturday.

There were life jackets bobbing in the water, people forming a human chain to pass survivors to safety and dead bodies being carried asnore in blankets

A crowd had gathered for a celebration of the Gullah Geechee people, who have inhabited Sapelo Island since enslaved people were forcibly brought from Africa to the U.S.

ATLANTA − At least seven people were killed after part of a boat dock collapsed, sending at least 20 into the Atlantic waters off the coast of Georgia on Saturday. U.S. Coast Guard ships were searching through the night for missing people.