Balcony was added to building as decorative afterthought, says city

A balcony that collapsed, killing six students, was only added to the side of an apartment block to make the building look nicer, it emerged in documents released by the city of Berkeley.

The rotten wood supports designed to hold the balcony in place were supposed to be properly protected from water penetration, according to the design plans for the complex, the largest residential block ever built in the Californian city.

Investigators are probing what caused the balcony on Kittredge St to collapse and flip, sending 13 young people in to the street below, killing the five Irish J1 students and one Irish-American and injuring seven others, two of whom remain in a critical condition in hospital.