Any More Info on this?¿?¿

[nearmethexperience]

A disturbance at a crowded Chicago night club early Monday sent people scrambling for the exits in a rush that left at least 14 dead, police said. Several were injured in the melee, including some critically.

“EVERYBODY SMASHED; people crying, couldn’t breath,� said Reggie Clark, who was at the club. “Two ladies next to me died. A guy under me passed out.�

There were more than 1,500 people in the two-story Epitome Night Club when someone released pepper spray or Mace into the air some time after 2 a.m., Fire Commander Will Knight said.

“It appears a disturbance from within led to a mass chaos where people headed for the door. Most of the fatalities appear to have been crushed or had injuries due to suffocation,� said police Officer Ozzie Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said 14 people were killed.

Medical teams from local hospitals responded to the site, along with several ambulances and paramedics.

what kind of club it was, or what kind of night it was?¿?

[Justj0hn]

I'm intrigued as well.....the only scant info I found so far is that it's a restaurant that masquerades as a nightclub occasionally and hosts open mic poetry evenings.

j0hn.......

[nearmethexperience]

yeah, that's about all i can findvia the net, holds about 1000 people and is managed (venue wise) by the same people that manage alice cooper and chubby checker, go figure...

but no info as to what monday nights are, as it's a quiet night when 'normal' people don't go out (only using the uk as a point of reference, and an old one at that) then mon/tues/wed nights used to be student/rock/alt nights...

[Justj0hn]

They must have sponsored a sunday all nighter as most in the states have monday off from work(I was to attend one myself but the weather fKd me over). The only thing I can gather is that the venue caters to the, uhhhhh.......urban collective being that I spotted a live date of a one Biz Markie as well as open mic poetry dates traced to a site entitled EbonyEnergy.....and also a couple of jazz performances.

j0hn.......

[6FeetOver]

Try this link:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... news%2Dhed

[hallucienate]

Try this link:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... news%2Dhed

sorry Sinny, your link asks me to log in, but I found this at my local site: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id ... 0&set_id=1

Stampede kills 21 in packed US nightclub

February 18 2003 at 05:19AM



By David Usborne

Chicago - A heaving night of smoke-hazed hip hop, alcohol and groove at a Chicago nightclub ended in numbing disaster.

A stampede by as many as 1 500 patrons left at least 21 dead, most of them trampled in a narrow stairwell leading to the only available exit.

"People just died in my arms," said Tonita Matthews. "I saw so many people on top of each other dead."

The tragedy began shortly after 2am at the Epitome nightclub in Chicago's South Side district, apparently after security personnel released a crowd control spray, possibly pepper spray or Mace, to subdue a fight between two women.

Their action, witnesses said, triggered panic and the rush to the stairs.

In the melée, many of the patrons tripped at the top of the stairs, unleashing a human avalanche of flailing bodies.

Police on Monday night declared the vast, second-floor nightclub a crime scene because a backdoor exit had been chained shut from the outside.

Officials said the club was served by a double glass door, but that one had apparently been jammed shut by the owners to prevent people sneaking in without paying.

The crush of people meant the only open door was pressed shut by the weight of bodies and could not be pulled open.

Fire department officials said first word of trouble at the club came at 2.23 in the morning. Fifteen ambulances were sent to the scene.

"While these deaths were sudden, our investigation will not be over quickly," fire commissioner James Joyce pledged. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

It was unclear whether the club was violating a fire department limit on the number of patrons it could hold.

The locked doors appeared to be a fire code violation, Joyce said.

The club, in an entertainment district that is popular mostly with African Americans and Hispanics, was unusually busy for a Sunday night because Monday was Presidents' Day, a national holiday.

With no work to worry about in the morning, most of the revellers were expecting to be dancing until dawn.

With several bars and a huge dance floor served by a roster of popular disc-jockeys, the club is a well-known party spot on the city's South Side and has served as late-hour gathering spots after concerts featuring P Diddy, formally known as Puff Daddy, and R Kelly.

It is America's worst stampede disaster in recent history.

Most of those killed were trampled beneath a tide of people crushing into the stairwell and lunging for the street.

Officials said many perished either at the scene or after being rushed to local hospitals with crushing injuries and the effects of suffocation.

Others lost their lives after suffering cardiac arrest.

Police officer Ozzie Rodriguez said: "It appears that a disturbance from within led to chaos where people headed for the door."

Stunned club-goer Reggie Clark told reporters: "Everybody smashed; people crying, couldn't breathe. Two ladies next to me died. A guy under me passed out."

Fire and police officers used sledgehammers and steel bars to try to smash down the doors and pull people out of the crush.

Cory Thomas, 33, had just reached the club to pick up two friends. As he waited outside, he saw people inside start to back up against the glass front door.

"People were stacking on top of each other, screaming and gagging, I guess from the pepper spray. The door got blocked because there were too many people stacked up against it," he said. "I saw at least 10 lifeless bodies."

Kristy Mitchell, 22, was one of the people trampled on the stairway. "People were stomping my legs," she said. "When they pulled me up, I was dizzy and I couldn't breathe."

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, the black activist and former presidential candidate, arrived at the scene and urged community members to help each other.

"We are asking area ministers to go to hospitals," he said. "My people are overwhelmed with the suddenness of this. At a time like this, you have to lean on your faith."

One man lucky to be alive on Monday was Amishoov Blackwell. The flow of the crowd had pushed him down the stairs.

"It wasn't nothing but two girls fighting," he said. "Why'd they have to spray Mace?" he asked - Independent Foreign Service