Six people were killed and several seriously injured when a fifth-floor balcony collapsed, causing 13 victims to fall about 50 feet to the pavement below early Tuesday, June 16th. Five of the deceased victims were 21-year-old Irish college students working in the United States for the summer. The sixth was Ashley Donohoe, 22, of Rohnert Park. Seven survivors of the fall were taken to local hospitals with serious injuries.
The incident occurred around 12:40 a.m. at an apartment home a few blocks from the University of California, Berkeley campus. The collapsed fifth-floor balcony landed on the fourth-floor balcony, spilling rubble onto the street below. Authorities are investigating what may have caused the balcony to collapse. Some experts suspect the balcony may have been previously damaged by water, asserting that the support beams may not have been sealed properly during construction. City officials have also noted that the balcony was not designed to hold 13 people.
Ireland’s consul general called the incident a national tragedy. The deceased Irish students were identified as Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcan Miller, and Eimear Walsh, all 21-years-old. The students all attended university in Dublin and were in the United States on J-1 visas.
