Berkeley balcony collapse: Irish student Aoife Beary is off critical list

Six students were killed when a balcony collapsed in Berkeley, California

One of the Irish students injured when an apartment balcony collapsed in Berkeley, California, last month, killing six others, has been taken off the critical list.

RTÉ reports that Aoife Beary, 21, has started to emerge from an induced coma.

A statement on the 'Friends of Aoife Beary' Facebook page said her condition had improved over recent days following successful heart surgery.

It says she is still in intensive care but is no longer on the critical list.

Ms Beary has been treated at the Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, California since being transferred from Highland Hospital on 26 June.

The statement said that although the student had started to awaken from an induced coma, the process was expected "to take some time".

It said she had started some communication with her parents and the medical team, adding that she has had a tracheotomy within the last week and continues to make progress on her "long road to recovery".

Another student seriously injured in the collapse has also spoken of her progress in recent weeks.

Clodagh Cogley, 21, who is recovering at a rehabilitation centre in San Francisco said in a Facebook post that she had broken her spinal cord, shoulder, knee and five ribs.

Two of the seven students who were injured have since been released from hospital.

Conor Flynn is still in the San Francisco area as he is not yet permitted to fly, while Sean Fahey has returned to Ireland following treatment.

Jack Halpin, Niall Murray and Hannah Water are all still receiving medical treatment for their injuries.

Five Irish students and one Irish-American died when a balcony gave way on 16 June.

Those who were killed were: Olivia Burke, 21, Eoghan Culligan, 21, Niccolai Schuster, 21, Lorcan Miller, 21, Eimear Walsh, 21 and Ashley Donohoe, 22.