One of the darkest days in Berkeley’s history was remembered Saturday as the community joined for the unveiling of a memorial plaque.
It honors six Irish and Irish-American students who died three years ago when a balcony collapsed.
KRON4’s Philippe Djegal attended the ceremony at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park and said the victims’ families were very emotional.
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín said, “the balcony collapse is one of the saddest days in the history of our city.”
Some of the victims’ families traveled from overseas to attend the ceremony.
Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States Daniel Mulhall made the trip from Washington D.C.
“It’s a tradition in Ireland that many young Irish people come to the United States, spend the summer, the student’s summer as I did,” he said. “Therefore, we in Ireland feel a great sense of contact with this tragedy of the loss of these six young people at the beginning of their lives.”
Arreguín said the incident resulted in the city passing legislation strengthening building standard for the construction of new balconies.
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