Berkeley balcony collapse

On June 16, 2015, shortly after midnight, five Irish J-1 visa students and one Irish-American died and seven others were injured after a balcony on which they were standing collapsed.[1] The group was celebrating a 21st birthday party in Berkeley, California. The balcony was on the 5th floor of an apartment building at 2020 Kittredge Street in Berkeley, then called Library Gardens. The district attorney of Alameda County launched a criminal probe into the incident.[2]

Berkeley balcony collapse
DateJune 16, 2015
LocationBerkeley, California, United States
Deaths6
Non-fatal injuries7

In June 2015 Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley promised a wide-ranging investigation into the cause of the accident. Considered the likeliest cause is that the balcony of the building was not constructed properly, leading to dry rot, leading to the balcony becoming structurally compromised. Overwhelming evidence points to dry rot causing the collapse, and not the weight of the 13 students on it at the time.

2020 Kittredge Street in 2017. The collapsed balconies were located in the area inside the red box.

Details

One of the six killed was a dual Irish-American citizen, Ashley Donohoe, 22, of Rohnert Park, California. The five others were Olivia Burke (Donohue's cousin), Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai "Nick" Schuster, Lorcán Miller and Eimear Walsh, all aged 21 and from Dublin, Ireland.[3]

The New York Times reported the deaths and suggested the deceased were to blame for the collapse. The paper stated that "the work-visa program that allowed for the exchanges has in recent years become not just a source of aspiration, but also a source of embarrassment for Ireland".[4] Taoiseach Enda Kenny and former President Mary McAleese criticised the newspaper for "being insensitive and inaccurate" in its handling of the story. The newspaper subsequently apologized, with the article still available on its website.[5]

The Irish Daily Star and Irish Examiner newspapers published an image of a body bag lying on the ground, prompting a Galway newsagent to remove the two papers as a protest.[6]

Investigation

Alameda County prosecutors opened up an investigation in the accident on June 25. They stated that involuntary manslaughter charges could be filed against someone.[7] On that day, District Attorney Nancy O'Malley denied that pressure from the Irish community led to the collapse inquiry. Rumor had spread that because prosecutors said their involvement was over the Irish had pressured them into a new inquiry. They also said they were looking into previous lawsuits against the complex. They yet declined to comment.

On July 3, 2015, the Alameda County Superior Court rejected a restraining order bid by Segue Builders, a construction company, against the examination of evidence. O'Malley had argued the granting of a restraining order would interfere with her duty to investigate the tragedy.[8]

Funerals

A joint funeral service for Olivia Burke and her cousin Ashley Donohoe took place on June 20, four days after the collapse, in a church in Cotati, California. Funeral services were held in Dublin for the other victims.[9]

Litigation

In December 2015 a court was told that the collapse happened because contractors cut corners to save costs. It is said the management company for the building, Greystar Real Estate Partners, ignored a "red flag" when students who rented the apartment complained about mushrooms growing on the balcony. Legal cases by some of the victims were set to be combined and heard together. By the end of 2017 it was reported that most of the lawsuits had been settled.[10][11]

gollark: You could *maybe* stretch that to extend to *all* humans, but *also* probably-not-organism things like stars, which also reproduce (ish), process things into usable energy (ish), sort of respond to stimuli for very broad definitions of stimuli, maintain a balance between radiation pressure and gravity, and grow (ish).
gollark: Individual humans are "organisms" by any sensible definition, inasmuch as they... reproduce, think, maintain homeostasis, grow, respond to stimuli, process inputs into usable energy and whatever.
gollark: I consider myself an atheist, since even though don't *know* there isn't a god, that doesn't mean I'm going to treat it as "well, maaaaaaybe" when the general policy for poorly evidenced claims is just to say "no".
gollark: Is not an organism, except by very stretched definitions which admit stars and such.
gollark: Troubling.

References
  1. "Six Irish students killed and six seriously injured in California balcony collapse". evoke.ie. 16 June 2015.
  2. "Alameda County DA's office to lead criminal probe into Berkeley balcony collapse". mercurynews.com. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  3. Rodriguez, Olga. “Cousins killed in Berkeley balcony collapse had twin bond”. Yahoo News. 20 June 2015.
  4. Nagourney, Adam; Smith, Mitch; Hardy, Quentin (June 16, 2015). "Deaths of Irish Students in Berkeley Balcony Collapse Cast Pall on Program". The New York Times.
  5. "The ‘New York Times’ apology was a sorry attempt to right a wrong". Irish Examiner. 22 June 2015.
  6. "Galway newsagent removed two papers from shelves in protest of ‘insensitive’ Berkeley images". TheJournal.ie. 17 June 2015.
  7. Elias, Paul. “Prosecutor: Balcony collapse could bring manslaughter charges”. Yahoo News. 25 June 2015.
  8. "Court rejects restraining order bid over Berkeley". RTÉ News. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  9. "Berkeley victims remembered at Dublin funerals". Irish Examiner. 24 June 2015.
  10. http://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/05/05/lawsuits-connected-2015-deadly-berkeley-balcony-collapse-settled/
  11. https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/11/21/deadly-berkeley-balcony-collapse-lawsuit-settled/
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