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[h=4]6 dead, 7 hurt in Calif. balcony collapse[/h]At least five people, all believed to be Irish, have died in the collapse of an apartment building balcony near the University of California at Berkeley early Tuesday, police and Irish officials said.
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Six people died and others are in critical condition after a fourth floor balcony collapsed near the University of California at Berkeley. Authorities said the students were attending a 21st birthday party when the balcony collapsed. VPC
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. — Six people died and seven others were seriously injured when a fourth-floor balcony collapsed during a party at an apartment building near the University of California at Berkeley early Tuesday, authorities said.
Five of the dead were Irish students on summer work-study visas. The sixth was a resident of Sonoma County.
Many of the injured suffered life-threatening wounds, said Jennifer Coats, a spokeswoman for the Berkeley Police Department.
"Today is an horrific day for those who lost loved ones," Irish Foreign Minister Charles Flanagan said in a statement. "The students and their families have been at the center of our thoughts and actions."
Irish broadcaster RTE reported there was a 21st-birthday party taking place in the apartment. The area is a popular destination for Irish students, the station said.
The dead were identified as Ashley Donohoe, 22, of Rohnert Park, Calif., and 21-year-old Irish nationals Oliva Burke, Eimeair Walsh, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster and Lorcan Miller.
Irish officials said many partygoers were in the United States on J-1 non-immigrant visas, which are given to those approved to participate in work- and study-based visitor programs. Several worked at the San Francisco tourist mecca Fisherman's Wharf and other businesses around the Bay Area.
The victims' families were to arrive Tuesday night, Irish Consul General Philip Grant said at a Tuesday news conference.
"Our hearts are breaking, but it is so good to know that so many people stand with us," he said.
Mayor Tom Bates said Berkeley city officials are "now trying to recover … and understand what we can do to ensure that things like this don't happen in the future."
The balcony at the Library Gardens complex broke loose about 12:40 a.m. PT, spilling the students onto the street and landing upside down atop the third-floor balcony. The complex consists of two buildings with a total of 160 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
Authorities have not yet determined why the balcony collapsed, but Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan said there was no indication of foul play.
Contradicting an earlier statement from a police spokesman, Meehan said that no noise complaints were phoned in but that police had responded to calls about shots fired in the area.
City inspectors ordered the property owner to immediately remove the collapsed balcony. Three other balconies were declared off limits until structural assessments are completed within 48 hours.
The complex, which was completed in 2007, is owned by BlackRock, a New York money manager with $4.7 trillion in assets, as of 2012, according to investor documents.
BlackRock's $2.9 billion Granite Property Fund, which invests in apartments, offices and other commercial real estate, described Library Gardens as an apartment complex that provided "strong quarterly appreciation" for the portfolio in the three-month period ending in March 2012, a quarterly report provided to investors shows.
BlackRock officials did not return requests for comment about its ties to the property.
The building has apartments in the upper floors and retail shops on the ground floor. Greystar, the firm that manages the building, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Greystar owns several other apartment buildings around Berkeley and is the city's third-largest taxpayer, according to records cited by the local news nonprofit Berkeleyside.
Library Gardens describes itself on its website as "the premiere choice for convenient Berkeley apartments. Our beautifully landscaped community is located one block from the University of California, Berkeley campus, steps from the Berkeley Central Library, and a block from BART, AC Transit, shopping, restaurants and entertainment."
Xueyao Song, 18, who lives on the first floor, said she was half asleep when she heard a "really loud noise." She went outside and saw people crying and yelling and holding each other.
"It's really horrible," she told USA TODAY.
Jason Biswas, a 16-year-old Berkeley High School student who lives in the building, said his mother woke him, thinking it was an earthquake.
When the family went outside, they saw seven or eight people people face down on the ground.
"It was real. It seemed like a movie, but it wasn't. It was graphic," he said. "There was blood everywhere."
Sinead Loftus, 21, a Trinity College student here on a work-study visa, learned of the tragedy after receiving several messages asking if she was OK.
"The Irish community here is really close knit. It's shocking. It feels like a nightmare," said Loftus, who lives a few blocks away. "We have a balcony in our building that's not unlike this building. It could have been our balcony."
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 Library Gardens 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.
A card and flowers are placed near the location of a balcony collapse in Berkeley, Calif., that killed at least five Irish students.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY)
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.
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