Lawsuit for Sapelo Island gangway collapse incident to be filed next week

There are several new updates on an upcoming lawsuit after the Sapelo Island gangway collapse that killed 7 people.

READ: At least 7 dead following Sapelo Island dock collapse

WTOC spoke with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who was retained for several of the impacted families, for the first time since the incident in October of 2024.

SEE: Attorney Ben Crump Retained by Families of Three Deceased and a Hospitalized Individual in Sapelo Island Dock Gangway Collapse

The day started as a Gullah Geechee celebration that brought thousands to the area.

“This unnecessary, avoidable tragedy,” Crump said as he describes the moment he heard what happened.

Crump says he’ll file a wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit next week representing 23 people in total.

That includes four who lost their lives and 19 who were injured.

“We’ve been working day and night to get to the answers so we can get to the truth and we can get some measure of justice for these families,” Crump said.

We asked Crump what came of the investigation he and several other law firms began in November of 2024.

SEE: Ben Crump Law Initiates Inspection of Sapelo Island Dock Collapse

“There were several places along the gangway that where it was obvious that the metal twisted and or broke. Sometimes there were just clean breaks,” Crump said.

He says that it appears to be construction and design flaws in the type of material used to build the dock gangway.

These were his findings after the second investigation into the structure of the gangway, that happened a month ago.

WTOC reached out to the Department of Natural Resources which owns the gangway.

They say this is an ongoing investigation and cannot comment.