400 Berkeley balconies need repairs

More than 400 balconies in Berkeley, California are in need of corrective work, according to a report on the city’s buildings that was commissioned following the deaths of six Irish students last June.

The Exterior Elevated Elements (E3) Programme was introduced by Berkeley City Council in July 2015, one month after the balcony collapse at a 21st birthday party in the city that claimed the lives of Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Ashley Donohue, Lorcán Miller, Niccolai Schuster, and Eimear Walsh.

Five of the six deceased were Irish students working in California on a J1 visa, while Ms Donohue was an Irish-American cousin of Ms Burke.