GEORGIA – Community members, victims’ families and survivors gathered Saturday morning to mark one year since the deadly gangway collapse on Sapelo Island.
The Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society (SICARS) organized the ceremony to commemorate the deadly incident that killed seven people, four of whom were from Jacksonville.
“We are honoring, those whose lives were lost, those that were injured and hurt, all that responded, and all that were impacted. So to remember, their memories, to honor them, to really take steps towards healing, towards standing together,” Josiah Watts with SICARS said.
Sapelo Island gangway collapse victims. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)
The collapse happened Oct. 19, 2024, as people were boarding a ferry on Sapelo Island during the annual Gullah-Geechee festival.
A portion of the gangway which collapsed Saturday afternoon remains visible on Sapelo Island in McIntosh county, Ga., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Levine) (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Ronald Johnson, president of the SICARS, was there when the collapse happened.
“Many of us were on the dock that day. Many Sapelo families were impacted and has been impacted over the last year. And I think it’s a great thing for us to come together and talk about it and share, have some emotional relief, together,” Johnson said.
Johnson said there are several memorials at various churches and communities to remember the lives lost on that day. However, he said they plan to add a permanent memorial on Sapelo Island and other places.
“They may be done in different phases, but we are talking about creating a statue as well as, maybe some labeling at the dock because that’s where it happened,” Johnson said.
In June, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Chadrick Mance announced they had filed a lawsuit on behalf of the victims’ families and survivors. The complaint highlights serious injuries and lasting trauma and alleges negligence by the engineering and construction companies involved.
Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.