Witnesses describe frantic rescue effort after Georgia dock gangway collapse killed 7
CBSN
Orange life jackets bobbed in the water, where bystanders rushed to form a human chain for passing survivors to safety. Others shouldered the task of wrapping bodies in blankets and carrying them to shore.
The frantic scene after an aluminum gangway collapsed Saturday at a boat dock on a Georgia barrier island capped what was supposed to have been a day of celebration, an annual festival spotlighting the culture and history of Sapelo Island's tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.
The collapse occurred as visitors were boarding a ferry back to the mainland. Officials say up to 40 people were standing on the gangway when it gave out at about 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on the Marsh Landing Dock. At least 20 plunged into the Atlantic waters, where a strong tidal current threatened to pull them out to sea.
