Dive Brief:

• Less than three weeks after the balcony of a Berkeley, CA, apartment building collapsed and killed six students, two dozen family members were injured in North Carolina over the weekend when a 29-year-old deck fell approximately 10 feet to the ground.

• Nails weakened by salt, sand and moisture reportedly gave way as the group posed for a family photo on the deck of a rented six-bedroom, five-bathroom oceanfront home in Emerald Isle. Two-thirds of the structure and the pilings appeared to be intact. Two of the victims were seriously hurt, while others reportedly suffered from injuries ranging from scrapes to broken bones.

• As in Berkeley, North Carolina has no law requiring property owners to have decks and balconies inspected once they pass an initial inspection at the time of installation, unless the structure becomes the focus of a complaint, the Associated Press reported. No complaints had been filed about the $1.15 million home where the accident occurred, Town Manager Frank Rush said in a news release on Sunday.

Dive Insight:

Inspectors in Berkeley have recommended that the city change its law to require ongoing inspections to prevent future accidents like the one that killed five Irish exchange students and an American classmate on June 16, and state housing officials said they might consider changes to California’s building code.

The 12-by-12-foot deck in North Carolina was likely built to 1986 code but the nails gave way and could not support the weight of the two dozen people gathered on the deck at the time it failed, Rush said.