SAVANNAH, Georgia — The survivors of a fatal footbridge collapse at a state-run ferry dock on a Georgia island, said Thursday that the government should help pay for funerals for the seven people who died, as well as medical bills and mental health counseling for those who lived .

Lawmakers on the Georgia Senate Urban Affairs Committee heard from four people who were at the dock on Sapelo Island on Oct. 19 when a metal footbridge broke in the middle, sending dozens of people plunging into the water.

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

Brockington said he was waiting with others to board an afternoon ferry off the island when he suddenly felt like he was in a falling elevator. When he stopped suddenly, he felt both of his legs break. As bystanders used a rope to pull Brockington to safety, four members of her club died.

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

Other survivors told the Atlanta meeting that the traumatic day still haunts them.

Darrel Jenkinswho pulled two people out of the water but never found out if they lived or died, said he continues to have nightmares and wonders, “What about the people who might not have lived? Could I have done more?”

Queen Brinson said her 79-year-old uncle, Isaiah Thomas, drowned after she had to remove her clenched fingers from her shirt to keep from being dragged under the water herself.

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

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

The agency says about 700 people visited Oct. 19 for Cultural Day, a celebration of the tiny Hogg Hummock community founded by emancipated slaves after the Civil War. Hogg Hummock is one of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities in the South, where slaves who worked on isolated island plantations retained much of their African heritage.

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

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

“The state has a responsibility,” said Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta and the committee’s chairwoman. “We have this hearing to find out what exactly they are responsible for.”

The Department of Natural Resources, with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is investigating what caused the collapse. But advocates for the victims said they did not trust the state agency to investigate on its own, and last week Attorney General Chris Carr said he had called in an engineering firm to conduct an investigation. independent, parallel investigation.

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

Last weekend, the department offered free counseling services to residents of Sapelo Island, as well as on the mainland in McIntosh County. A press release said that “continued mental health resources will be provided to those in need” and that Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon has reached out to the families of those killed and “shared a phone number if they need something”.

The press release also included a hyperlink to an online form that injured people can fill out to file a liability claim with the state.

A spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources did not immediately respond to an email seeking more information about how it is helping victims.