Disastrous collision

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33069, 9 November 1972, Page 15

Disastrous collision

C.V.Z. Press Assn.— Copyright) BRUNSWICK, Georgia, November 8. The freighter African Neptune, its steering gear reportedly broken, ploughed into a drawbridge over the Brunswick River last night and ripped away a section holding at least a dozen cars. Authorities said that at least eight persons died, and rescue ships were looking for more victims. There was no indication how many people might have been in the cars, thrown into 80 feet of water when the African Neptune struck the bridge. There were reports that some cars fell on to the freighter. The disabled ship lay

alongside the bridge last night while tugboats tried to pull it away. Searchlights played on the water, choppv with the incoming tide. The ship was reportedly leaving the Naval docks at Brunswick on high tide when, witnesses said, it hit supports of the towering, multi-lane, Sydney Lanier Bridge that carries United States Highway 17 over an inlet in the city limits of Brunswick. The drawbridge was open to let the ship pass, but it struck an abutment under one side of the fixed section of the bridge, which collapsed. The tidal river is swift and wide at that point, but shrimp boats immediately put out to pick up survivors. Five miles away, the fire department on Jekyll Island dispatched an ambulance, and the driver radioed back that “12 cars have sunk and a pickup truck is floating." The driver also reported that the drawbridge had been up and the ship hit a support instead of going through the opening. “The cars must have sunk about as quick as they hit the river,” he said. A Highway Patrol spokesman said that there were 12 to 14 cars sitting on the 100 ft section of the bridge that was torn away by the impact. It was the worst bridge disaster since December 15, 1967, when the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River collapsed under the weight of afternoon rush-hour traffic. The known death toll was 46, but only 44 bodies, along with 32 vehicles, were recovered.