Sunday, the names of the seven people who died when a part of a gangway at a boat dock fell into Georgia water were released.
It was Charles Houston Jr., 77, of Darien who was killed. He was a chaplain for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which is looking into what happened with the Ganway’s “catastrophic failure.”
The New York Times says the following men and women are among the other victims:
- Carlotta McIntosh, 93, of Jacksonville, Fla.
- Isaiah Thomas, 79, of Jacksonville, Fla.
- Jacqueline Crews Carter, 75, of Jacksonville, Fla.
- Cynthia Gibbs, 74, of Jacksonville, Fla.
- William Johnson Jr., 73, of Atlanta
- Queen Welch, 76, of Atlanta
At least six other people were badly hurt. As of 11 a.m. EDT, Rabon said that three of them were still in critical condition, while the other three were treated at local hospitals and sent home.
Rabon said that the gangway at the Marsh Landing Dock broke down around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, while people were celebrating on Sapelo Island.
The small Gullah-Geechee community on the island, which is made up of former slaves, was celebrating Cultural Day when the gangway gave way, throwing about 20 people into the water.
A reporter asked Rabon if the gangway had been checked out after the recent storms that hit the state. Rabon replied, “Not that I am aware of.”
A man who said he was a cousin spoke at the news conference and said he had already told the agency about problems with the gangway. He said that his worries were “brushed off,” and he wanted to know why.
The man said, “I told them the gangway wasn’t safe.”
“When are y’all going to start listening to us descendants on the island about what’s going on?” he told me.
A spokesman for the agency, Tyler Jones, told the man that the agency couldn’t say what caused the fall but that they were working to find out what happened.
When asked by a reporter if there were any written reports about the gangway, Rabon said that he was “not aware of any complaints” at this time.
Reginald Hall, a resident, also went to the meeting. He was one of the people who jumped into the water, where an outgoing tide made a strong wind that pulled people toward the ocean.
Hall said he was given a 2-year-old child and passed her to shore, which was about 60 yards away, along a line of people who were watching. After that, he helped move bodies wrapped in blankets.
Hall said, “It was a mess.” “That was awful.”
Rabon said that detectives are talking to survivors, rescuers, and witnesses right now.
He said that the probe is still going on.
Content Source: Victims in deadly gangway collapse in Georgia identified; Descendants express concerns
