JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Thursday, a community vowed to move forward together after seven people were killed in a gangway collapse in Georgia last weekend.
A prayer vigil was held Thursday night at a St. Paul A.M.E. Church, where the pastor said two of the four victims from Jacksonville attended. Families of the victims now known as the 'Sapelo 7' were supported with prayer, song and condolences.
Jacksonville residents Cynthia Gibbs, Jacqueline Carter, Isaiah Thomas and Carlotta McIntosh as well as Georgia residents Queen Welch, William Johnson Jr. and Charles Houston were killed Saturday when a gangway collapsed on Sapelo Island, sending at least 20 people into cold water, Georgia officials said.
“It was very chaotic," said Pastor Carl Spencer who travelled from Georgia for the vigil. "All of the pastors came together.”
Spencer said he comforted survivors the day of the collapse.
“We all came together as one," Spencer said. "As one family, as one community.”
Pastor Willie Barnes with St. Paul A.M.E. Church said McIntosh and Thomas attended his church.
"We’re a denomination that is all across the globe,” Barnes said.
First Coast News asked him about the outpouring of support from across the country on his church's social media post about the vigil.
“I hope the family feels a little measure of comfort knowing that people all across the world are praying for them,” Barnes said.
People in the Gullah Geechee community are also praying for them. The ‘Sapelo 7’ were on Sapelo Island during a Gullah Geechee heritage festival. Saundra Morene with the Jacksonville Gullah Geechee Nation Community Development Corporation calls a visit to the island a “pilgrimage.”
“I wanted to show how, to the family, how much we really care that their loved ones took the time out to celebrate, first of all, the culture that day and to give them our condolences for their loss, which is our loss,” Morene said.
Those at the vigil said the loss is the whole community’s loss, but it's one they have faith they’ll get through together.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are still investigating the cause of the gangway collapse.