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The support
structures for the wooden deck at the house overlooking the
ocean in Emerald Isle, about 60 miles (96 km) from Wilmington,
remained intact after the Saturday evening collapse, town
manager Frank Rush Jr. said in a statement on Sunday.
According to a preliminary review by the building inspector, the
deck likely would have met construction standards and that the
nails had simply failed, Rush said, adding that a final report
on the collapse is expected to be released in the next several
days.
Two of the five people who remained hospitalized on Sunday were
in critical condition, Rush said.
Authorities said a family had gathered on the deck to be
photographed when it gave way.
There have been no documented complaints or deficiencies at the
family-owned property, which was built in 1986, according to
Rush. about that residence, he said.
Emerald Isle, a town of about 3,700 residents on the central
North Carolina coast near the Croatan National Forest, is a
popular vacation spot.
The incident followed a June 16 balcony collapse in Berkeley,
California, that killed five visiting Irish college students and
one American.
City inspectors found wooden support beams on the fourth-floor
balcony were badly decayed, apparently from moisture.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by
Jeffrey Benkoe)
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