A partial settlement has been reached in the case taken by the seven survivors and families of the victims of the Berkeley balcony collapse in California in 2015.
Six young students died and seven others sustained horrific injuries when the apartment balcony they were standing on at a party collapsed.
Irish students Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Lorcán Miller, Nick Schuster and Eimear Walsh, all aged 21, and Ashley Donohoe (22), from California, died when the fourth-floor balcony they were standing on collapsed during the early hours of June 16th, 2015.
Survivors Aoife Beary, Clodagh Cogley, Seán Fahey, Conor Flynn, Jack Halpin, Niall Murray and Hannah Waters who had also been standing on the balcony when it collapsed all suffered severe injuries.
The families and survivors of the collapse will receive substantial payments from the company responsible for constructing Library Gardens apartments in Berkeley, according to The Irish Independent.
After the accident, it was discovered the balcony was suffering from dry rot and had not been sufficiently waterproofed and substandard materials had been used during its construction.
The California State Contractors Licencing Board found that if the balcony had been properly built and reinforced, the load of thirteen people was “well within the design limits of the balcony structure” and would not have collapsed.
They have since revoked the construction licence of Segue Construction, the company who built the apartment block.
Defendants involved in designing and constructing the balcony agreed to pay costs to the family. The compensation amounts will not be disclosed.
Separate legal actions against the owner of the apartment asset management company Blackrock, and manager, Greystar, are proceeding in the California Superior Court for the County of Alameda, which covers the city of Berkeley.
Lawyers for the family of Ashley Donohoe said in a statement that amounts to be paid would “never restore health or lives of the students but the payments reflect an effort to maximally compensate the victims within the means of the wrongdoers.”
The Donohoe’s lawyer Eustace de Saint Phalle, said: “The Donohoe family will continue to push for legislative changes to the building codes and related to establishing a reporting requirement to the contractors licensing board for contractors who settle claims related to poor construction work.”
Attorney Matthew Davis, who represents the families of the six deceased students and six of the survivors said: “This settlement will never restore health or life but reflects an element of justice from the wrongdoers for the deaths and serious injuries caused by the tragedy.”
