23 people injured after deck collapses

AUSTIN - A condo balcony gave way Sunday morning, injuring nearly two dozen people around 4:00 Sunday morning.

According to police, residents at the Garden Court Condominiums located at 4811 East Oltorf Street in South Austin, were hosting a party and many of the guests were on the balcony at the time of the collapse.

Austin Police, 28 AFD firefighters and EMS responded to the condos. Police reported that nearly 100 people were gathered around the area of the complex when they arrived. They believe all were party-goers.

An Austin Fire Department written report taped on the door of the condo, says there were 30 people on the wooden deck when it collapsed. Fire officials say that was too many; exceeding the weight limit for a balcony of that size. The report also states the structure is just a week old and was illegal to use for parties.

Sunday morning City of Austin code compliance officers were on the scene to inspect.

"We need to look at it if it was permitted and what type of process went into building it," says Ron Potts, City of Austin assistant division manager, code compliance.

They will begin their initial investigation Monday morning.

"Come Monday morning we will start an investigation of whether this was all permitted to be built and we'll have the process of engineering looking at it to see what happened and perform a formal investigation," said Potts.

Dr. Christopher Ziebell with Seton Hospitals spoke at a press conference at University Medical Center Brackenridge on Sunday to provide patient updates.

According to Dr. Ziebell, EMS transported 13 people to Brackenridge while ten arrived on their own.

Doctors said that initially nine of the 23 patients were considered “trauma stats”, which means they were in critical or near-critical condition.

Three of the 23 injured were considered to have minor enough injuries for them to be taken to a separate hospital in Round Rock. The transport allowed the doctors at Brackenridge to focus on the patients with the most serious injuries.

Dr. Ziebell noted that five additional doctors were called into Brackenridge to provide the necessary care for the 20 patients that stayed at Brackenridge. He says that the majority of the injuries are orthopedic, including a broken jaw.

A Seton spokesperson says all of the people were admitted and some of those patients have since been released. They will provide more detailed information regarding the discharges Sunday evening.

Officials are investigating the accident to establish a clearer idea of what led up to the collapse. Some factors they will consider are to determine what the weight limit for the balcony is versus how much was on it at the time and to study the structure to see if its construction played a part.

The condo’s structural damage estimate has been set at $10,000.