Georgia authorities said Sunday they are investigating the “catastrophic failure” of a dock gangway that collapsed and killed seven on Sapelo Island, where crowds had gathered for a fall celebration by the island’s tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

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

The aluminum gangway suffered structural failure as historic Sapelo Island hosted an event celebrating its Gullah Geechee history and culture.

There were life jackets bobbing in the water, people forming a human chain to pass survivors to safety and dead bodies being carried asnore in blankets.

Investigators have begun looking for reasons behind the failure at a ferry dock on Sapelo Island, the site of a festival celebrating the heritage of descendants of enslaved people.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon said Sunday morning that at least 40 people were on the gangway and that half fell into the water. The dock gave way before 4 p.m. in a "catastrophic failure," prompting a response from the Coast Guard and state and local agencies.

At least seven people are dead and several others critically injured after a gangway collapse at a landing dock on Georgia's Sapelo Island.

Seven people died after a ferry gangway on Sapelo Island collapsed Saturday in Georgia, according to state officials.

ATLANTA − At least seven people were killed after part of a boat dock collapsed, sending at least 20 into the Atlantic waters off the coast of Georgia on Saturday. U.S. Coast Guard ships were searching through the night for missing people.

Orange life jackets bobbed in the water, where bystanders rushed to form a human chain for passing survivors to safety.