JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced Monday he is representing the families of three of the victims who were killed in the dock gangway collapse on Georgia’s Sapelo Island Saturday.
Crump said he is also representing the family of one of the three people who remain hospitalized following the incident.
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Georgia authorities said they are investigating the “catastrophic failure” of a dock gangway that collapsed and killed seven people on an island off the state’s Atlantic seacoast, where crowds gathered for a celebration by the island’s tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.
“It is a structural failure. There should be very, very little maintenance to an aluminum gangway like that, but we’ll see what the investigation unfolds,” Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon said at a news conference, a day after the tragedy on Sapelo Island.
Crump said his legal team is seeking justice and answers regarding the cause of the collapse and issued the following statement:
“The tragic deaths and injuries caused by the collapse of the Sapelo Island dock gangway are devastating for these families and the entire community. We will not rest until we uncover the truth behind this catastrophic failure and hold those responsible accountable. This should never have happened, and it is crucial that we prevent future tragedies by addressing the negligence that led to this horrific event.”
Ben Crump, civil rights attorney
Crump’s legal team did not specify in Monday’s announcement whose families they are representing. However, the families and the legal team will hold a news conference Tuesday morning in Jacksonville.