Dock walkway collapse kills 7 in US state of Georgia

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (AFP): A dock walkway collapse killed seven people in the southern US state of Georgia on Saturday, authorities said, as crowds gathered for a festival on an island.
At least 20 people were tossed into the waters off Sapelo Island and an unknown number were injured, Georgia's Department of Natural Resources said in a statement, reporting the seven deaths.
The collapse happened as the island hosted a festival celebrating its tiny Gullah-Geechee community, descendants of African people once enslaved on southern US plantations.
Isolated on islands scattered along the southeastern US coast, their ancestors relied on the land and sea. They created their own culture, fed by their African heritage, and even developed their own Creole language.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources said the incident was under investigation and did not offer possible causes of the collapse.