SAN JOSE (KRON/AP) – An Irish college student injured in June’s deadly balcony collapse in Berkeley expressed feeling guilty on Friday for surviving when six other young people died.

Niall Murray, who appeared in a wheelchair with bandages on his arms and a boot on his left foot, choked up when he talked about going home soon and seeing the families of those who died.

“I remember the night. The only thing I don’t remember is how I hit the ground. I figured I must have done something like that to protect my head,” Murray, 21, said as he placed his hands on the left side of his face.

Murray spoke at a news conference at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he has been receiving treatment for a broken wrist, heel and elbow at the hospital’s Rehabilitation Center. He also almost lost one of his index fingers but is expected to make a full recovery.

Six students were killed and seven others were hospitalized after the balcony snapped off an apartment building during a June 16 birthday party and flung 13 people five stories below to the street.

Five of the dead were Irish students working in the Bay Area for the summer, and the sixth was an Irish-American from Rohnert Park, 22-year-old Ashley Donohoe.

Murray, whose family is from Dublin, said he had been at the party for about a half-hour and remembered everyone joking and laughing. He was on the balcony when he heard a “big rumble” as the structure gave way. He saw two of the other victims as he was falling.

After that, he remembers being put on a gurney by paramedics and waking up in the emergency room. On Friday, Murray thanked nurses, doctors and diplomatic officials for their help.

In addition to Donohoe the others who lost their lives were Ireland’s Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcan Miller and Eimear Walsh, all 21. The Irish students attended various colleges in Dublin.

Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the collapse but have not named a possible target. They say they would have to show criminal negligence was involved in order to file charges and gain convictions.

Lawyers say it’s difficult to win convictions against property owners, contractors and others involving allegations of construction failures. The last known criminal prosecution of a balcony collapse in California occurred in San Francisco almost 20 years ago.