6 dead, 7 hurt in Calif. balcony collapse

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-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 state

ment. "The students and their families have been at the center of our thoughts and actions."

Pictures of scene in Berkeley - 5 Irish citizens understood to have died in balcony collapse

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 16, 2015

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.

Officials would not release the names of the injured, citing privacy concerns.

The victims' families were to arrive Tuesday night, Irish Consul General Philip Grant said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference, just blocks from the tragedy.

"Our hearts are breaking, but it is so good to know that so many people stand with us," he said.

Many of the 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. In all, about 700 Irish students are working around the San Francisco Bay area this summer, Grant said.

Several reportedly worked at the Fisherman's Wharf tourist mecca.

So many students come to the United States through the program that it's considered a rite of passage in Ireland, Grant said.

He described the community as "tight-knit" and said students here were likely to have known someone at the party.

"To have this happen at the start of this season is something that has left us all frozen in shock and in disbelief," Grant said.

Mayor Tom Bates said Berkeley city officials are "trying to recover … and understand what we can do to ensure that things like this don't happen in the future."