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The incident is still under investigation, but according to the initial reports, a guest was leaning on his balcony railing at the Moana Surfrider Hotel earlier that day, and later, the balcony railing fell and landed on the beach below.

Luckily, the railing missed directly crushing beachgoers below, but did cause some minor injuries to folks who were rushing to get out of the way, according to local news reports.

“When I went to the bedroom balcony and looked down, I saw where it landed and I thought

‘Thank God’ because two feet either way either, way it probably would have killed somebody,” the hotel guest, whose name is being kept anonymous, said.

The incident is drawing wider concern from KHON2 in Hawaii, which reports that the failing balcony railing could be a sign of hotels showing their age.

A national building expert quoted in the story advised the hotel to close all balconies until they can expect each one.

“I think water is getting through on the top tile and penetrating to the concrete because that leaning edge which is ahead of the balcony, I could see horizontal rebar that was pretty corroded,” the expert told KHON2. “I’m pretty sure that this is not the only unit like that. I think it’s a global thing.”

Needless to say, one should always be extremely careful when standing near a hotel balcony railing. Avoid putting your entire body weight on it, and stay balanced when around it.

Those with children should be especially careful.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen drastic examples of building collapse and failure over the last couple years, headlined by the June 2021 Surfside Condominium collapse in Miami that killed 98 people.

If you are responsible for any building maintenance and are concerned about the integrity of the structure or asset then please contact Structural Repairs and see how we can help.