Twelve die in Chicago as balcony collapses at party

A woman who survived the collapse of a balcony in which at least 12 people died said she heard wood splitting just before she fell.

As many as 35 other people were injured in the tragedy when the second floor balcony gave way, crushing the first-floor balcony beneath it to the ground and trapping some people in a basement stairwell at a building in Chicago, in the United States.

Disaster struck as scores of university graduates were enjoying a party in the city's northern suburbs.

The 24-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, said she was making her way on to the crowded balcony just after midnight (6am Irish time) when she plunged 30 feet and was buried in the rubble.

"I am just in shock, I was just hysterical. I am just beat up and I feel very lucky," she said.

"I feel just like I have had an out of body experience, I cannot believe it."

The party, which was held on two floors of an apartment block, was given by group of graduates in their mid-20s from Duke University, North Carolina.

Guests started arriving by 9.30pm and the place was packed by midnight.

"I just stepped out at about 12.30am, I took one step, maybe two and then I heard creaking and splitting and screaming," she said.

"The most horrible screaming. I fell for a second I was told 30 feet then I had stuff on top of me like wood and also people below me.

"My right foot was caught for a second and I pulled it free."

The woman, from North Carolina, said she thought she was going to die. Chicago Fire Commissioner James Joyce told of the "chaos" which greeted the first emergency workers to arrive. "There were people screaming and crying in the alley," he said.

Eleven people were pronounced dead at the scene and 35 others were taken to area hospitals. The collapse happened in the Wrigleyville neighbourhood on the city's north Side.

"It was simply a case of too many people in a small space," Joyce said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office later confirmed that another person was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Medical Centre. Chicago Police said as many as 40 or 50 people might have been on the balcony at the time of the collapse far more than it was designed to hold.

Witnesses said the rails of thebalcony were still in place several hours after the collapse, but the floor had fallen out. Neighbours said theysaw workers using chain saws to cut through the debris to get to the victims.