A criminal investigation into the collapse of the balcony in Berkeley, California, that claimed the lives of six Irish students may already be compromised, according to an engineering expert.

Both local people and some of those living in the same apartment building outlined the chaotic scenes in downtown Berkeley after a balcony peeled off a fourth floor apartment, plunging Irish students down to the ground with tragic consequences.

A fifth day of nationwide protests against police violence was set to begin yesterday after overnight clashes in two West Coast cities as New York’s police commissioner said an internal investigation into a chokehold death could last four months.