The dead have been named as Lorcan Miller, Eimear Walsh, Niccolai Schuster, Ashely Donohoe, Eoghan Culligan and Olivia Burke (clockwise). The five Irish citizens were young people of college age visiting the U.S. on working visas. The balcony gave way at the luxury Library Gardens Apartments in the early hours of Tuesday as the young people celebrated a 21st birthday. Many of the injured have critical, life-threatening wounds.
Ashley Donohoe, an American student from Rohnert Park in north California, was also killed. It is understood she was Olivia Burke's cousin.
Tragedy: The balcony collapsed under the weight of the partygoers, landing on the balcony below and then sending them tumbling to the ground
Aftermath: This picture shows how the balcony broke away from the timber beams holding it fast to the building
Five Irish students and an American killed when a fourth-floor apartment balcony collapsed during a 21st birthday party are named and pictured for the first time today.
Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcan Miller, Eimear Walsh, all 21 from Ireland, and Irish-American Ashley Donohoe, 22, all died in Berkeley, California, yesterday.
Seven other students, also from Ireland, were injured and some have critical, life-threatening wounds following the tragedy yards from the University of California.
Witnesses said there were around 14 partygoers crammed on to the balcony, which collapsed with a sharp crack at around 12.45am on Tuesday, spilling them 50ft on to the pavement below.
Tearful friends of the dead and injured have gathered outside the building and laid flowers and Irish flags where they fell - while back in Ireland flags are being flown at half-mast.
Criminal charges could be brought against the companies behind the construction or maintenance of the seven-year-old Library Gardens Building, with experts claiming the joists may have broken because of dry rot.
Tragedy: Olivia Burke, left, and Niccolai Schuster, right, were among six people who lost their lives when a balcony gave way at an apartment block in Berkeley, California, on Tuesday
Pictured: Ashley Donohoe, a 22-year-old Irish-American and student Eimear Walsh, 21, have died after the balcony they were on copllapsed
Great loss: Talented students Lorcan Miller, left, and Eoghan Culligan, right, died when they were enjoying a trip of a lifetime
The foreign students, the majority of whom were from south Dublin, were visiting Berkeley, California, on the popular J1 working visa program, which attracts thousands of Irish students annually.
Most had only been in the United States for a fortnight after finishing their university exams at home in Ireland.
Addressing the parliament in Dublin last night, Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: 'My heart breaks for the parents who lost children and I can only imagine the fear in the hearts of other parents whose children are in California this summer as they seek to contact them now.'
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