6 Students die after balcony collapses in California

Six young people died and seven others were injured when a fourthfloor building balcony collapsed in Berkeley, California, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Five of the six victims were 21yearold Irish students while the sixth was a 22yearold American.

They were celebrating a friend’s birthday early morning, authorities and witnesses told the newspaper.

Four had died on the spot and two others died after being admitted to a nearby hospital.

Two are in a critical condition.

“I saw a bunch of bodies,” said Jason Biswas, a 16yearold witness to the accident.

“It looked like a movie, but it wasn’t,” he added.

The reason behind the collapse is not yet known, said Berkeley police spokesperson Jennifer Coats.

From television visuals it seems the balcony partially detached itself and its surface was left hanging, which crashed into the apartment windows of the lower floor.

The Irish students were in Berkeley with temporary visas for summer jobs.

At least one person called emergency, reporting excessive noise from the party, but authorities had failed to turn up immediately.

According to local police head, Michael Meehan, police patrols were dealing with some shootings that occurred earlier in the area.

The calls intensified after the accident and the police arrived at the spot in two minutes.

“We mourn the tragic loss of young lives in California this morning,” Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny wrote on Twitter.

Philip Grant, Consul General of Ireland in the western United States, said that flights carrying the victims’ families arrived Tuesday night.