6 students killed in California balcony collapse during a party

My heart goes out to all those who lost their loved ones as a result of this man-made disaster, and pray for full and quick recovery of those who were injured.

Too sad for words.

That's a lot of people on a small balcony.

Unlucky and sad. The things I did when I was young. Man, I'm lucky to have survived.

Yea, we all are reckless when young men. Exceeding weight limit on an unsupported balcony is much less reckless opposed to just not knowing the limit.

Exceeding weight limit on an unsupported balcony is much less reckless opposed to just not knowing the limit.

From the article:

the building code would have required the balcony to hold 60 pounds per square foot, which in this case would work out to somewhere around 3,000 pounds, based on a rough estimate of the balcony’s size. That would be more than what 13 normal-size people weigh.

@Strangerland Do we know that it was only 13 people though, and not 13 people plus furniture/equipment/whatever else?

Some people might have been half in the door and got pulled out.

Did you see the size of that balcony? It's hard to imagine that 13 people even fit on it, much less furniture etc.

Even the luck of the Irish has a breaking point - 13... sure sounds unlucky!

I don't know if it was an issue with the design, construction, maintenance or weight but the facade of the building looks like a prefab/poor quality soft pine construction which are notoriously susceptible to hidden dry rot.

So sad. This was not a natural disaster but a man made one.

California is usually on the ball when it comes to business and city codes / inspections. These ravers let the music & alcohol get the better of their judgment. Perhaps if they were @ Notre Dame or near Southbend, their Irish luck would've pulled through-

StrangerlandJUN. 17, 2015 - 10:03AM JST

the building code would have required the balcony to hold 60 pounds per square foot, which in this case would work out to somewhere around 3,000 pounds, based on a rough estimate of the balcony’s size. That would be more than what 13 normal-size people weigh.

And the tenants know the capacity? Not to mention it was a party just standing and talking cannot be assumed. Could have been jumping, dancing....

13 people on that small a balcony is stupid. They must have been packed like sardines and jumping around. Any fool knows that everything has a weight limit before it breaks. This is small news compared to all the kids who die during spring break holidays across the USA but the fact that these kids were foreigners and so many killed and injured in one group of course draws more attention

Hawkeye JUN. 18, 2015 - 01:30PM JST 13 people on that small a balcony is stupid. They must have been packed like sardines and jumping around. Any fool knows that everything has a weight limit before it breaks.

The building was constructed only 7 years ago. Water-damaged wood beams may be responsible for the balcony collapse. The Investigators believe the support beams of the concrete-floor balcony were not sealed correctly during construction.

Look at this photo: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/17/berkeley-balcony-collapse-investigation/28879957/