SAVANNAH, Ga. – Survivors Fatal crossover collapse The government should help pay for funeral expenses for the seven people who died, as well as medical bills and mental health counseling for survivors, he said Thursday at a state-run ferry dock on a Georgia island.

Lawmakers on the Georgia Senate Urban Affairs Committee heard from four people at the dock on Sapelo Island on Oct. 19 when a metal pier broke in the middle, causing dozens of people to fall into the water.

Among them was Yvonne Brockington of Jacksonville, Florida, who arranged for more than 50 members of her club to visit the island for older adults to visit during the annual cultural festival held by the small Gullah-Geechee community of black slave descendants.

Brockington said he suddenly felt like he was in a falling elevator while he and others were waiting to board the afternoon ferry from the island. He felt both his legs break when he suddenly stopped. While bystanders used rope to pull Brockington to safety, four members of his club lost their lives.

“The psychological impact, I don’t know if it will ever go away, but we definitely need help,” Brockington told lawmakers via video conference from his hospital bed. “This shouldn’t have happened. The state of Georgia owes us more than resources. They owe us an apology and need to make sure it never happens again.

Other survivors said at the meeting in Atlanta that they were still haunted by the traumatic day.

Darrel JenkinsThe person who pulled two people out of the water but could not find out whether they were alive or not said that he continued to have nightmares and asked himself the following question: “What about the people who may not have lived? Could I have done more?”

Regina Brinson His uncle, 79-year-old Isaiah Thomas, said he also drowned after he had to pull his fingers out of his shirt to avoid being dragged underwater.

“We need mental health support, financial support and resources to ensure survivors and their families have what they need to begin healing,” Brinson said.

The dock on Sapelo Island is operated by the State Department of Natural Resources, which manages daily ferry service to and from the mainland.

The agency said about 700 people visited Oct. 19 for Culture Day, which celebrates the small community of Hogg Hummock founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. The Hogg Hummock is one of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities in the South, where slaves working on isolated island plantations have preserved much of their African heritage.

Mawuli Davis, an attorney for some of the people injured in the collapse, told lawmakers that his clients had been contacted by state investigators for interviews but had not been contacted by anyone offering assistance.

Lawmakers said they agreed the state should do more to help victims. But it’s unclear how much influence they would have: The Senate Urban Affairs Committee consists of six Democrats, while Republicans control the legislature and the governor’s office.

“The state has a responsibility,” said Sen. Donzella James, an Atlanta Democrat and committee chair. “We’re holding this hearing to find out exactly what they’re responsible for.”

The Department of Natural Resources is investigating what caused the collapse, with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. But victims’ lawyers said they did not trust the government agency to investigate him, and last week Attorney General Chris Carr said he had called an engineering firm to investigate. independent, parallel investigation.

No one from the Ministry of Natural Resources spoke before the committee on Thursday.

This past weekend, the department offered free consultations to Sapelo Island residents as well as those living in mainland McIntosh County. A press release stated that “ongoing mental health resources will be provided to those in need” and that Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon contacted the families of the deceased and “shared a phone number with them if they need anything.”

The newsletter also included a hyperlink to an online form that injured people can fill out to file a claim for state liability.

A Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email message seeking more information on how victims were being assisted.