US balcony collapse: Poetic farewell as last injured Irish student flies home

Six people were killed and seven others were critically injured when the fourth-floor balcony collapsed during a birthday party at a Californian apartment block in June

An Irish Consulate in the US has bid a poetic farewell as the last of the Irish students critically injured in a balcony collapse flew home to Ireland.

Hannah Waters was one of 13 people on the balcony in Berkeley, California, when the structure gave way on 16 June.

Five Irish students and one Irish-American died in the accident. Seven other Irish students, including Ms Waters, were critically injured.

Consulate staff tweeted a Seamus Heaney poem, along with a photo of her plane.

The Irish Consulate in San Francisco tweeted a copy of Seamus Heaney's poem, Postscript, along with a photo of the injured student's flight home to Ireland

Quoting the final line of the poem, they wrote: "A postscript for Berkeley as the last of our students heads home. Our hearts caught off guard and blown open. Godspeed."

Birthday party

The work of the Consulate General of Ireland, based in San Francisco, extends across the western United States and includes California, where the accident took place.

It has been assisting the Irish students affected by the tragedy, who had travelled to the US as part of a work exchange programme.

The friends were holding a 21st birthday party in the apartment when the balcony collapsed.

The critically injured students spent time in US hospitals before they were considered well enough to fly home.

All seven received part of their medical treatment in San Francisco.

Some of them have sustained life-changing injuries.