At least seven people were killed Saturday when a footbridge collapsed on a dock where a crowd was gathered for celebrations on Sapelo Island in Georgia, in the southeast of the United States, according to local authorities.
“At least twenty people fell into the water when the footbridge collapsed. At present, the number of victims is seven and the number of injured is not yet known,” said in a statement the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
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.
“What should have been a joyous celebration of Gullah Geechee culture and history turned into a tragedy,” lamented US 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 stand “ready to provide any necessary assistance.”
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.
