This year’s annual Spring Quarter “Deltopia” event saw thousands of partygoers on Saturday and resulted in a number of incidents, including a collapsed balcony of a house on Del Playa Drive.

Although the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office did not release official statistics as of press time, Sheriff spokesperson Kelly Hoover said the event drew a larger turnout than the past couple years and kept law enforcement “very busy.”

At approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, the balcony of Beta Theta Pi’s senior house, located at 6643 Del Playa Drive, caved in with 20 people standing on it. Four of the 20 were sent to local hospitals by medics shortly after the collapse, according to the Santa Barbara Fire Department newsline.

Third-year English major Jared Nicol was one of the individuals on the balcony when it buckled in and collapsed. Nicol, who tore his ACL as he fell, said the entire situation was hectic and stressful.

“The railing collapsed on my leg as the balcony fell and my leg got trapped,” Nicol said. “It was complete chaos. Afterward, the firemen came and did their job. After the wreckage, I saw people crying. It was pretty traumatic,” Nicol said.

According to second-year biology major Yuri Tabakatake, the event was much more chaotic than he expected it to be based on his experience last year.

“What I didn’t expect was DP being way more packed than even just last year, and the accidents that I’ve heard sound terrible. From the balcony crashing to people climbing on mail trucks, I think this year’s Deltopia got a little out of control,” Tabakatake said. “There were too many people acting irresponsibly and disrespectfully, whether they were UCSB students or not, and hopefully the craziness of this year’s Deltopia won’t lead to a complete end to Deltopia in the future.”

More information is being released today by the Sheriff’s Office and will be published in tomorrow’s issue.

—Staff Report