The island is home to about 70 full-time residents of the Hog Hammock community, many descendants of people enslaved at Sapelo plantations.

Seven people are dead and half a dozen others were critically injured after a gangway that's part of a ferry dock collapsed on Sapelo Island, Georgia, on Saturday.

At least seven people are dead after a portion of a ferry dock collapsed at about 3:50 p.m. Saturday on Sapelo Island, authorities say. Twenty people fell into the water when a gangway to the dock collapsed, said Tyler Jones, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which operates the dock.

At least seven people have died after part of a ferry dock collapsed in Georgia's Sapelo Island on Saturday, local authorities say. Georgia's department of natural resources, which operates the dock,

Authorities said at least seven people were killed Saturday when part of a ferry dock collapsed on Georgia's Sapelo Island, where crowds had gathered for a fall celebration by the island's tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

At least 7 are dead after a ferry dock gangway collapsed on Georgia's Sapelo Island. Multiple people were taken to hospitals and crews from the U.S. Coast Guard and others searched for survivors.

Authorities said at least seven people were killed when part of a ferry dock collapsed on Georgia’s Sapelo Island.