SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. — As we continue to follow the gangway collapse on Sapelo Island that claimed the lives of seven people, we are on your side diving into another gangway collapse that happened just two years ago, this time in St. Marys, Georgia.
Attorneys for the family of three Jacksonville victims said they are exploring the possibility of filing a lawsuit related to this collapse. If so, it would be the second lawsuit filed in the state of Georgia regarding a gangway collapse.
The latest tragedy happened in Sapelo Island and claimed the lives of seven people. Back in September 2022, 17 people were injured when a gangway in St. Marys fell into the water.
The St. Marys city manager gave insight into how that investigation was handled and what to expect.
"It’s not as simple as anyone thinks, they get into the material, structures, an analysis to look at the metals that are involved in it. What were the conditions, what were the conditions leading up to the tragedy? So there’s a lot of scientific studies that have to be done to it. It’s not a real quick 'I know what happened' kind of thing," St. Marys City Manager Robert Horton said.
Horton said not only did they reconstruct their gangway after that 2022 collapse injured 17 people, but they put in additional safety barriers to prevent a future tragedy.
"When we had the new gangway built it actually took a little bit more time than we originally anticipated because we did beef up the construction of it. We put in a couple of safety measures in there too, in the event something like this would happen again," he said.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Georgia Bureau of Investigation have removed the gangway and are investigating the collapse.