Irish students killed at UC Berk accident

[Crosby87]

Ughh. Heard about this all day, As "foreign exchange students". Never thought of them as possibly being Irish.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/16/us/california-balcony-collapse/

[nigel-harps1954]

Supposedly all UCD students. Tragic. Death toll could rise too with a number still critical in hospital. Lives just completely wiped out in the blink of an eye while celebrating a birthday.

Without coming across as inconsiderate or disrespectful, it begs the question as to why there were 13 people on a balcony that size. A neighbour has said the balconies on those apartments only hold around 6 or 7 people at most.

[pineapple stu]

Without coming across as inconsiderate or disrespectful, it begs the question as to why there were 13 people on a balcony that size. A neighbour has said the balconies on those apartments only hold around 6 or 7 people at most.
There's a fair bit on boards about it. The point is made (which seems sensible) that if 15 people can fit on a balcony, you damn well make sure it'll support 30, just in case.

Seems the timbers supporting the balcony may have been rotten.

Tragic event of course. Really horrible. Hasn't been far away from my facebook feed all day either; seems I have a few mutual friends.

[Crosby87]

Yeah...this seems like it has been happening lately across the country. I would really never walk out onto an apt balcony with a bunch of people....its scary.

[tricky_colour]

You can't expect to have limit on the number of people on a balcony that is not realistic it should be
strong enough to hold as many as will fit on it because there will always be time when people crowd out onto
a balcony, if it can't do that it should not be built.

Those ledge style balconies are really a death trap you won't get a warning of a collapse,
there should be some sort of buttress type sport underneath at the very least.

You could see on the pictures the wooden joists were rotted, I am never really happy on a balcony like that, I like to have something solid
beneath my feet all the way to the ground.

I expect somone is getting sued for a lot of money here.

[BonnieShels]

One DIT student amongst the cohort. Awful tragedy how it happened.

The Star yesterday was a disgrace.

[SecondBall]

The nytimes should be ashamed of their lives for what they wrote today. Scumbags of the highest order.

[bennocelt]

One DIT student amongst the cohort. Awful tragedy how it happened.

The Star yesterday was a disgrace.

What did they do?

[pineapple stu]

Front page spread of body bags on the street

[Crosby87]

Gawker on the Times article:
http://tktk.gawker.com/new-york-times-regrets-calling-dead-irish-students-drun-1712015870

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Would any other nation attract this much bigotry, hostility and racism after five of its citizens (one of whom is of German descent) die due to structural inadequacy?

Talk about insensitive.

[Mr A]

Yeah, loads would. Not sure they're as expert at being offended as we are though.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

OK. Just over the last week the Irish have been racially abused on mainstream Australian TV, something that seems to happen on a monthly basis over there. The entire country have been stereotyped as drunken idiots in the New York times after 6 kids tragically died in a balcony collapse.

I can gather a few more cases of outright racism against us this year, from these countries in particular, if you want?

Meanwhile, you can gather all the instances of racism against other European countries in Oz and American mainstream media over the last year.

The British are quite fond of alcohol and are quite open about it. There is a cottage industry of programmes about young British people combining alcohol with hedonistic holidays in other countries.

They aren't stereotyped akin to something from the 1800's and rightly so.

It's f***ing racism and I'm sick of it.

It's all well and good having a laugh about what the Australian said, even if he is in a position where he really shouldn't be saying what he said; but these children aren't even in the ground yet, their families and friends - some of whom I know through mutual friends - are beside themselves with grief, and you have a "reputable" newspaper ****ing on their graves and using a structural atrocity as an excuse to peddle their bigotry and racism.

Disgusted. And I knew fully f'n well their media would push a racist angle on this.

[Crosby87]

But Irish isn't actually a race Towks. The times would be more anti white and certainly anti Israel than anything I suppose. If they were from say, An African Muslim nation, they would have been canonized as the most brilliant students in the history of time, and as for the non union workers who built the structure, certainly there would have already been an arrest of someone in the parent company......

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/berkeley-balcony-collapse-i-write-5909470#rlabs=2

Berkeley Balcony Collapse: “I write this on the way to the airport with my crying mum, how dare you make our hurt any worse.'

[nigel-harps1954]

You lost any credible argument you had by quoting the Mirror.