US balcony collapse: Plans made to bring bodies of victims to Ireland

The victims: Top row, from left: Ashley Donohoe, Eimear Walsh, Olivia Burke. Bottom row, from left: Eoghan Culligan, Lorcan Miller and Niccolai Schuster

Arrangements are being made to bring home the bodies of five Irish students who died after a balcony collapsed in California in the United States.

The incident happened during a 21st birthday party in the early hours of Tuesday in the city of Berkeley.

Five of the six people who died were Irish students based in the US as part of a work exchange programme.

The bodies of four of the students will be repatriated on an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin on Saturday.

RTÉ reports that the flight is expected to arrive in the Republic of Ireland on Sunday.

It also reports that a joint funeral will be held in California this weekend for the two cousins Olivia Burke from Foxrock and Ashley Donohue who is from the San Francisco area, before Ms Burke's body is returned to Ireland for burial.

More relatives of those killed in the incident have arrived in California and have laid flowers and placards at the scene.

A late-night vigil is being held for the students at a church in Berkeley on Friday night.

Jimmy Deenihan, the Irish minister for the diaspora, laid a wreath at the scene

Of the five victims from the Republic of Ireland, three were students at University College Dublin.

The victims were:

• Ashley Donohoe, 22

• Olivia Burke, 21

• Eoghan Culligan, 21

• Niccolai Schuster, 21

• Lorcan Miller, 21

• Eimear Walsh, 21

Irish government minister Jimmy Deenihan, accompanied the families to the memorial on Kittredge Street in Berkeley, and said the students were not just a loss to their families but to the future of Ireland.

He added that the families appreciated the outpouring of grief and it was helping them to cope with the loss of their loved ones.

"I have never seen such an outpouring of genuine sympathy and grief from the whole country for the families of the bereaved," he said.

"The six who are dead have become the children of Ireland, they have now become symbols of our country and the people have responded accordingly in so many different ways."

Authorities said 13 people were on the balcony when it collapsed

Phil Grant, the consul general of Ireland, said support was being given to the relatives of those killed and injured.

Meanwhile, Irish President Michael D Higgins was among hundreds who attended a memorial service in University College Dublin for the six students.

Three of those killed, Eimear Walsh, Lorcán Miller and Niccolai Schuster attended the university.

Earlier on Friday, the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness joined Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny in signing a book of condolence at the Mansion House in Dublin before the British Irish Council meeting.

A book of condolence is also to be opened at Belfast City Hall on Monday.

Investigations continue into why the fourth-floor balcony collapsed.

Engineers say water damage may have caused the structure to give way.

Authorities said 13 people were on the balcony when it collapsed.