Families of Irish students who died and were injured after a balcony collapsed have been arriving in California.

It happened at a 21st birthday party in the apartment in Berkeley, California.

Five of the victims were from Ireland, and some of them were students at University College Dublin (UCD).

Counsellors are in place to help the bereaved and injured. An Irish university has expressed "heartbreak" at the deaths.

Those who were killed have been named as:

• Ashley Donohoe, 22
• Olivia Burke, 21
• Eoghan Culligan, 21
• Niccolai Schuster, 21
• Lorcan Miller, 21
• Eimear Walsh, 21

Several others have been injured, some of them very seriously.

Ms Donohoe, who had dual US-Irish citizenship, lived in California while the other five who died all had home addresses in Ireland.

Mr Culligan and Mr Schuster were both past-pupils of St Mary's College in Rathmines, Dublin.

The majority of the victims were in the US on work visas, on the J1 USA summer work and travel programme.

UCD President Andrew Deeks expressed condolences to their families saying: "We are heartbroken at their suffering and loss".

In a statement, the UCD president said: "It is with deepest sadness that I speak of the tragic accident involving UCD students and their friends in San Francisco.