Berkeley balcony collapse: Undue haste in closing inquiry

IT is alarming, to say the least, that authorities in the City of Berkeley in California have confirmed that no person, builder, owner or commercial entity is being investigated in relation to the balcony collapse last Monday that killed six students and injured seven others.

In what seems like undue haste, city officials have already closed their investigation and the Berkeley Police Department is not carrying out any criminal investigation in connection with the tragedy.

A very brief investigation by engineers in Berkeley has concluded that the collapse had nothing to do with the number of students on the balcony. It was all down to extensive dry rot of supporting timbers.