Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
As media gather, a fourth floor balcony rests on the balcony below after collapsing at the Library Gardens apartment complex in Berkeley, Calif., early Tuesday. At least five people died in the collapse.(Photo: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY)
BERKELEY, Calif. -- At least five people, all believed to be from Ireland, have died in the horrifying collapse of an apartment building balcony near the University of California at Berkeley early Tuesday, police said.
At least eight people were injured, many of them with life-threatening wounds, Jennifer Coats, a spokeswoman for the Berkeley Police Department, told reporters.
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan told RTE's radio station that all of the dead are Irish.
"It is with great sadness that I confirm that a number of young Irish citizens have lost their lives while a number of others have been seriously injured following the collapse of a balcony in Berkeley, California, earlier today," he told the Irish Independent newspaper in an earlier statement.
Irish broadcaster RTE reported that there was a 21st birthday party taking place in the apartment. The area is a popular destination for Irish students, the station said. The building has apartments in the upper floors and retail shops on the ground floor.
Later, the Irish consul general in nearby San Francisco, Phillip Grant, said that 12 to 14 people, all between the ages of 20 and 22, had been on the balcony. He said that the injured had been taken to Eden, Highland, Children's, Bates and John Muir hospitals in the western Bay Area.
Police received a call about the incident shortly before 1 a.m. local time, Coats said, and when officers arrived they found that the balcony on the fourth floor of the building on Kittredge Street had disintegrated and had fallen on top of a balcony on the third floor.
Photos on social media show ambulances on the scene and debris on the sidewalk near the apartment complex.
Berkeley PD spokesperson Byron White talks to reporters near the scene of the balcony collapse.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY)
Another police spokesperson, Byron White, said that the Berkeley PD had received a call for a noise complaint around midnight. Police did not respond, he said, adding that there are frequent complaints about noise in the areas near the university.
Police investigators are meeting with the building's manager, White said.
A witness, Gerald Robinson, 65, of Berkeley, told USA TODAY that he had just left a movie and was in his car when a young man and woman with blood on them flagged him down. He said he drove them to Highland Hospital in Oakland and stayed with them for about an hour. Robinson said the woman, who had blood on her knees, and the man, who had blood on his shirt, were wracked with survivor's guilt.
"They were distraught. They were hanging on each other for comfort," he told the the San Francisco Chronicle.
Sam Cacas, a resident of the Berkeley apartment where a balcony collapsed, killing at least five people.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY)
Sam Cacas, a resident of the apartment complex, said there are often rowdy parties in the buildings. "There is not enough security and property management," he told USA TODAY, calling the incident "an accident waiting to happen."
"A tragedy could have been prevented," Cacas added, if there had been on-site supervision.
Police spokesperson Coats told NBC News that officials had secured the area around the collapse and have not evacuated the building.
Authorities do not know what caused the collapse, Coats told NBC.
"We don't know what happened. Officers are on scene talking with people," she said.
Coats said she also didn't have information on the identities of the victims, including their ages and gender. "We don't have a lot of specific detail at this point because (investigators) are still trying to work through it all."
Later, the Irish ambassador to the United States, Anne Anderson, issued a statement offering her "heartfelt sympathy and condolence to the families, loved ones and friends of the Irish students who lost their lives."
Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Kevin O'Malley, tweeted: "Heartfelt sympathy & condolences to the families, friends & loved ones of the Irish students who lost their lives in Berkley (sic) this morning.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the families, loved ones, and friends at this difficult time."
The Irish government also opened a consular response line for concerned family and friends at (country code 353) 1 418 0200.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed