By Professor John Robertson OBA

From Forum Daily yesterday:

At least 7 dead after Georgia ferry dock collapses – Eight people were taken to hospitals, at least six of them with serious injuries, and crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, McIntosh County Fire Department and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources were pulling victims and survivors from the water, said Tyler Jones, a spokesman for Natural Resources. The agency operates a marina and ferries between the island and the mainland. The jetty’s gangway collapsed, sending people into the water, Jones said. A team of engineers and construction experts arrived on the island on Oct. 20 to begin investigating the cause of the collapse.

^{https://www.forumdaily.com/en/7-dead-after-ferry-dock-gangway-collapses-on-georgias-sapelo-island/}

From Yahoo News on the same day:

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The metal gangway where dozens of people waited to board a ferry boat made a loud, creaking noise before snapping in the middle amid panicked cries from those sent plunging into the water. Some clung desperately to the railing, while others began to float away with the tidal current.

“There was no time for anyone to get off,” said Icy White, who watched from about 30 feet away at the ferry dock on Sapelo Island. “It took seconds.”

White’s family was among hundreds visiting the isolated Georgia barrier island Saturday for a fall festival spotlighting the history and culture of its tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants. The celebration gave way to tragedy when the gangway collapsed, sending seven visitors to their deaths.

White of Atlanta recorded video of the immediate aftermath on her cellphone and shared it with The Associated Press. It shows tourists and island residents jumping into action to rescue imperiled strangers and render aid to the injured in a remote location with few trained first responders initially on-site.

“There was no EMS [Emergency Medical Staff] that was there,” said Darrel Jenkins, White’s cousin. “We were the EMS.”

_{^{https://ca.news.yahoo.com/georgia-islanders-rushed-rescue-survivors-110142185.html}}

As you may be aware, I never compare Scotland’s ferry system with those in Africa, Bangladesh or the Philippines where many die in sinkings, every year or two.

Is Georgia, in the deep South of the USA a bit ‘third-world’ too? Reports of poverty and denial of women’s rights might suggest so but with a population [11 million] only twice that of Scotland [5.4m], Georgia’s GDP in 2022, at £755 billion was 4.5 times, 2.25 times pro rata, per head, greater than Scotland’s at £166 billion.

Imagine Scotland’s media if 7 were dead after a CalMac ramp collapsed.

Sources:

https://usafacts.org/metrics/gross-domestic-product-gdp-by-state-georgia/#:~:text=In%202022%20(most%20recent)%2C,Lowest:%20$242%2C540%2C800%2C000%20in%201997

https://www.statista.com/statistics/348324/gdp-of-scotland-annually/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20the%20gross%20domestic,161.2%20billion%20pounds%20in%202021.