Cause of deadly balcony collapse in Berkeley under investigation

BERKELEY (KRON) — The Alameda County coroner has said that the cause of death in the deadly balcony collapse was blunt force injuries.

The students were at a birthday party when the fifth-floor balcony broke off an apartment building in Berkeley.

Five of the victims were 21-year-old students from Ireland who were in the U.S. on work visas. Another was a 22-year-old from Rohnert Park, California.

Seven other students were hospitalized.

Grubaugh said she could not comment on whether the bodies of the victims have been released to their families.

Mayor Tom Bates says rotted wood beams may have caused the collapse, but later said the theory was speculation and a cause had not been officially determined.