Berkeley: Spotlight on safety of apartment complex

In the aftermath of the balcony collapse in which six Irish students died on Tuesday, attention in Berkeley has now turned to the construction of the Library Gardens apartment complex at the centre of the tragedy.

Questions will be asked as to how secure the balcony structure was prior to the accident, whether it complied with building codes and if the necessary maintenance and precautions were taken to make the balcony as secure as possible.

Engineering crews have inspected jagged broken beams of wood sticking from the building, marking where the balcony had snapped off. Pieces of wood came away, falling to the ground as the engineers touched them. City inspectors barred use of the other balconies during the investigation.