Irish among six dead in California balcony collapse

[webfact]

6 killed in California balcony collapse during a party
By KRISTIN J. BENDER AND MARTHA MENDOZA

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A 21st-birthday party thrown by a group of visiting Irish college students turned tragic early Tuesday when the fifth-floor balcony they were crammed onto collapsed with a sharp crack, spilling them about 50 feet onto the pavement. Six people were killed and seven seriously injured.

Police and fire and building officials were working to figure out why the small balcony broke loose from the stucco apartment house a couple of blocks from the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. But one structural engineer said it may have been overloaded if, as city officials said, it was holding 13 people.

High school student Jason Biswas' family nearby was awakened by the noise.

"They thought there was an earthquake, but then we looked out the window and saw seven or eight people on the ground," the 16-year-old said. "There were piles of blood everywhere."

Five of the dead were 21-year-olds from Ireland who were in the country on so-called J-1 visas that enable young people to work and travel in the U.S. over the summer, while the sixth victim was from California, authorities said.

The accident brought an outpouring of grief in Ireland from the prime minister on down, with the country's consul general in San Francisco calling it a "national tragedy."

Police had gotten a complaint about a loud party in the apartment about an hour before the accident but had not yet arrived when the metal-rail balcony gave way just after 12:30 a.m., spokesman Byron White said. It landed on the fourth-floor balcony just beneath it, leaving the pavement strewn with rubble and the red plastic cups that are practically standard at college parties.

"I just heard a bang and a lot of shouting," said Dan Sullivan, a 21-year-old student from Ireland who was asleep in the five-story building. Mark Neville, another Irish student in the building, said: "I walked out and I saw rubble on the street and a bunch of Irish students crying."

The U.S. government's J-1 program brings 100,000 college students to this country every year, many of them landing jobs at resorts, summer camps and other attractions. The San Francisco Bay area is especially popular with Irish students, about 700 of whom are working and playing here this summer, according to Ireland's Consul General Philip Grant. Many work at Fisherman's Wharf and other tourist sites.

Sinead Loftus, 21, who attends Trinity College Dublin and is living this summer in a different apartment in Berkeley, said Berkeley is "the Irish hub." In fact, she said, "I've heard people complain there are too many people from Ireland here."

"It's student-friendly, it's warm and it's a lot cheaper than San Francisco," she said.

Investigators will look at such things as whether the balcony was built to code, whether it was overloaded and whether rain or other weather weakened it, said Kevin Moore, chairman of the structural standards committee of the Structural Engineers Association of California.

Berkeley officials said the building code would have required the balcony to hold at least 60 pounds per square foot. Its exact dimensions were not released, but Grace Kang, a structural engineer and spokeswoman for Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center at Berkeley, said it looked to her to be 4 by 6 feet, or 24 square feet. That would mean it was supposed to hold at least 1,440 pounds.

She said it appeared small for the crowd that had apparently gathered on it, Kang said.

"They were packed like sardines, and then they were moving," Kang said. When people "are moving about a lot or dancing, that impact load may further exacerbate" the strain.

Also, the apartment house appeared to have been wood-frame construction, and the balcony was cantilevered out from the building, with no additional support beneath. Both can make a balcony more vulnerable to dry rot and weathering in general, Kang said.

In the meantime, city inspectors barred use of the building's other balconies while they are checked for safety.

The Library Gardens apartment complex, completed in 2007, is in a lively part of downtown Berkeley close to the campus and is a popular place for students to live. Several tenants reached by telephone said it is well-maintained.

Berkeley Police Chief Michael Neeham said the response to the noise complaint had been given a lower priority after police received a call of shots fired elsewhere.

The building is owned by BlackRock, the largest asset management fund in the U.S., according to city officials, and managed by Greystar Management, whose website says it operates more than 400,000 units in the U.S. and abroad.

In a statement, Greystar extended condolences to the victims' families and added: "The safety of our residents is our highest priority and we will be working with an independent structural engineer and local authorities to determine the cause of the accident."

On the closed street below, a shrine was growing: flowers, a pack of cigarettes, a Cal Berkeley banner, condolence notes. Victims' relatives were expected to begin arriving from Ireland on Tuesday night.

The dead were identified as Ashley Donohoe, 22, of Rohnert Park, California, and Ireland's Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcan Miller and Eimear Walsh. The Irish students attended various colleges in Dublin.

"My heart breaks for the parents who lost children this morning, and I can only imagine the fear in the hearts of other parents whose children are in California this summer as they seek to contact them now," Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers in Dublin.

"It is truly terrible to have such a serious and sad incident take place at the beginning of a summer of adventure and opportunity for so many young people on J-1 visas in the U.S."

A 2010 Associated Press investigation of the J-1 program and the companies that arrange the visits found that many students paid thousands of dollars to come to the U.S., only to learn the jobs they were promised didn't exist. Some had to share beds in crowded houses or filthy apartments.

Following the investigation, the State Department tightened its rules governing participating businesses.
___

Associated Press writers Paul Elias, Ellen Knickmeyer and Lisa Leff in San Francisco, Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Bob Seavey in Phoenix contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-17

[zaphod reborn]

Being a Cal Alumni, this isn't an unforseen tragedy. The housing in North Berkeley is old. There's little redevelopment or renovation. Students overcrowd the housing and throw large parties. They spill out onto balconies and rooftops. I feel sorry for the families and friends of these students. The owner of the house, and his insurer, will be paying up for this.

[Doc46]

There you go,,,does not only happen in Thailand,,,Shoddy builders all over the world ,,,Sorry no stupid excuses,,,,

[MaxYakov]

There you go,,,does not only happen in Thailand,,,Shoddy builders all over the world ,,,Sorry no stupid excuses,,,,

13 (people) X 150 (average pounds/person*) = 1,950 (pounds)

Exactly how many tons do you think a small balcony should be able to support?

* = A very conservative average weight per person these days.

In Thailand, farangs often have a tendency to suddenly make the load on a balcony an average 150 pounds less (if you get my drift).

Edited June 17, 2015 by MaxYakov

[Jingthing]

Massively tragic for their friends and family.

Yes I know the area too.

Used to live in a San Francisco pre 1906 Victorian rotting wreck where I was risking my life every time I bathed in the old Victorian heavy bathtub because it was in an elevated shack propped up by dodgy wood polls. Ah youth!

I wonder if they were complacent thinking they were in a first world country that things like that don't happen.

I remember when I visited Argentina staying in an old building with an old elevator being shocked to read about the large numbers of people killed every year there ... in old elevators.

Sure there is dodgy real estate in any country.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Jingthing

[Prbkk]

Massively tragic for their friends and family.

Yes I know the area too.

Used to live in a San Francisco pre 1906 Victorian rotting wreck where I was risking my life every time I bathed in the old Victorian heavy bathtub because it was in an elevated shack propped up by dodgy wood polls. Ah youth!

I wonder if they were complacent thinking they were in a first world country that things like that don't happen.

I remember when I visited Argentina staying in an old building with an old elevator being shocked to read about the large numbers of people killed every year there ... in old elevators.

Sure there is dodgy real estate in any country.

Was that In Barbary Lane?

This balcony/student housing problem is worldwide. Several 'events' in Australia, including deaths. Old buildings, alcohol, young people who think they're indestructible..can lead to tragedy.

[beechguy]

There you go,,,does not only happen in Thailand,,,Shoddy builders all over the world ,,,Sorry no stupid excuses,,,,

Or stupid drinkers. Supposedly, the balcony was for decorative purposes. If you look at some of the film clips, you'll see links to other buildings being collapsed by abuse. One was house, where they overloaded the roof.

Still, condolences to the families.

[LomSak27]

There you go,,,does not only happen in Thailand,,,Shoddy builders all over the world ,,,Sorry no stupid excuses,,,,

Uh, if you set the leo bottle down and pull up a picture of the apartment. That balcony is about the same size as my old 1 bedrooms outside balcony. I would have been leery of having 5 or 6 people out there, they had 13

Certainly the builder might be at fault but with 13 people out there, I bet it was right at the allowable weight limit.

now back to the Leo.

[Tywais]

Deadly balcony collapse tied to rotted wooden beams

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The balcony collapse that killed six college students appears to have been caused by rotted wooden beams, Berkeley's mayor said Wednesday as the victims' heartbroken loved ones began arriving in the U.S. from Ireland.

Mayor Tom Bates said investigators believe the wood was not caulked and sealed properly at the time of construction and was damaged by moisture as a result.

More here - Yahoo

[Jingthing]

Massively tragic for their friends and family.

Yes I know the area too.

Used to live in a San Francisco pre 1906 Victorian rotting wreck where I was risking my life every time I bathed in the old Victorian heavy bathtub because it was in an elevated shack propped up by dodgy wood polls. Ah youth!

I wonder if they were complacent thinking they were in a first world country that things like that don't happen.

I remember when I visited Argentina staying in an old building with an old elevator being shocked to read about the large numbers of people killed every year there ... in old elevators.

Sure there is dodgy real estate in any country.

Was that In Barbary Lane?

This balcony/student housing problem is worldwide. Several 'events' in Australia, including deaths. Old buildings, alcohol, young people who think they're indestructible..can lead to tragedy.

No, Bernal Heights.

The idea of having a party on one of those tiny balconies with lots of people there would be pushing it but NO I am not blaming these victims.