Three Irish women who left a balcony seconds before it collapsed, killing six college students, have sued the builders, owners and managers of the Berkeley building.

Five Irish students and an Irish American lost their lives when the balcony collapsed on June 16 last year, while 7 others were injured.

The students who died in the accident were Olivia Burke, Eoghan Colligan, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcan Miller and Eimear Walsh, all from Dublin.

The sixth, Ashley Donohoe, was from Northern California but had dual Irish-American citizenship. She and Ms Burke were cousins.

Reports say that Caroline Conlan, Cliodhna Maloney and Aisling Tallon filed their lawsuit last month in Alameda County Superior Court, alleging that the wooden balcony had poor workmanship and that warning signs of extensive water damage to the structure were ignored.

The three roommates say they could have been killed or injured.

Ms Conlan, Ms Maloney and Ms Tallon had moved into the apartment two weeks before the tragedy with their fourth roommate, Aoife Beary, who was celebrating her 21st birthday the night of the collapse.

Ms Beary fell, and was seriously injured.