Authorities are working to identify the cause of a partial ferry dock collapse on Georgia’s Sapelo Island that turned a day of celebration into tragedy, leaving at least seven dead and six critically injured as crowds gathered for a cultural festival.

Seven people are dead and half a dozen others were critically injured after a gangway that's part of a ferry dock collapsed on Sapelo Island, Georgia, on Saturday.

At least seven people were killed Saturday after part of a ferry dock collapsed on Georgia’s Sapelo Island, The Associated Press reported, citing a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The collapse happened as crowds gathered on the island for a celebration of its tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

At least seven people were killed on Saturday when the gangway of a ferry dock collapsed on an island in Georgia, forcing at least 20 people into the water, the authorities said. The deaths on Sapelo Island were confirmed by Mark Deverger,

At least seven people have died after part of a ferry dock collapsed in Georgia's Sapelo Island on Saturday, local authorities say. Georgia's department of natural resources, which operates the dock,

Georgia officials are investigating after a freak ferry dock collapse on Sapelo Island killed at least seven people and injured an unknown number of others.