21 Die in Chicago Nightclub Stampede

By BRANDON LOOMIS
Associated Press Writer



CHICAGO (AP) -- A disturbance at a crowded South Side nightclub early Monday sent hundreds of people rushing for the exits, killing at least 21 and injuring an unknown number of others.

There were more than 1,500 people in the two-story Epitome Night Club on the city's South Side when someone released pepper spray or Mace into the air sometime after 2 a.m., Fire Commander Will Knight said. Twenty-one people were confirmed dead, Chicago Police spokesman Pat Camden said.

"Everybody smashed; people crying, couldn't breathe," said clubgoer Reggie Clark. "Two ladies next to me died. A guy under me passed out."

"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.

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

"You could see a mound of people. 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 them taking out a pregnant woman," Thomas said. "She was in bad shape. 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."

Knight said the total number of injuries was unclear because many of those with minor injuries were being taken to hospitals by family and friends.

Amishoov Blackwell, 30, was checking his coat on the second floor when people started rushing past him. The flow of the crowd pushed him back down the stairs and he fell on top of several people, he said. He was trapped on top of the others until firefighters rescued him about 30 minutes later.

"It wasn't nothing but two girls fighting," Blackwell said. "Why'd they have to spray Mace?"

The melee marks one of the nation's deadliest stampedes.

In December 1991, nine young people were crushed to death in a gymnasium stairwell while awaiting a celebrity basketball game in New York.

In December 1979, 11 people were killed in Cincinnati in a crush to get into a concert by The Who.

This is pretty awful. I wonder if the person/persons who sprayed the peper spray will get charged with 21 counts of manslaughter?

damn...all cuz of two fools actin up, it seems like...

Horrible.

Yeah...unbelievable, my girlfriend (who's from Chicago) told me what happened earlier this morning in Chitown. It must have been a nightmare 2 b inside that club last night. Here's a link 2 the story in the Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune...news%2Dhed
This has also got a link to a video of the newsreport as shown on WGN channel9 this morning. It even was on the news seconds ago in The Netherlands where I live myself. A tragedy indeed...
[This message was edited Mon Feb 17 8:37:18 PST 2003 by serpan99]

I myself think that this is pretty big news, and of course on the Fox News Channel (the U.S. channel that I get where I live) is covering "THE WAR ON TERROR"!! Blah, blah, blah...I'm so sick of hearing about that and only that. See! It's even making me violent myself!

I would like to hear more about what has happened and is happening with the Chicago nightclub tragedy, but I haven't heard much about it, on that channel at least.

That's why I'm always fearful of packed nightclubs. Give me a chill dive bar any day of the week.

That's hardcore, 21 dead due to evacuation from a night club. I think there will be a mass payout to the families of those who perished, if you want to run a club you have to be able to deal with trouble causers and pepperspray.

Locked, blocked exits cited in nightclub deaths

By BRANDON LOOMIS
Associated Press Writer


CHICAGO -- Hundreds of screaming guests rushed the exits of a crowded nightclub Monday after someone used pepper spray or Mace, and at least 21 people were crushed to death or smothered in the panic, officials said.

Firefighters were forced to use sledgehammers and pry bars to open locked or blocked doors that prevented some club-goers from fleeing, Fire Commissioner James Joyce said at a late morning briefing.


"There are people trying to get out that could not get out," Joyce said. "Locked and blocked doors are a contributing factor. We can't explain how management or ownership would allow that."

The locked doors are a fire code violation, Joyce said.

Twenty-one people were confirmed dead in the tragedy at the Epitome Night Club, Chicago Police spokesman Pat Camden said. Hospitals reported treating at least 50 for everything from critical injuries to asthma-like symptoms.


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

Some witnesses reported that panic broke out after the guards used pepper spray or Mace to break up a fight, but authorities did not immediately confirm that. Police Commissioner Terry Hillard said investigators are trying to sort out conflicting stories about the source of the spray, and were retrieving a video from inside the club.


"We will get to the bottom of this," Hillard said. "Right now our investigation is at full tilt."

There were more than 1,500 people in the two-story nightclub when the spray was released sometime after 2 a.m., officials initially estimated. They could not immediately say what the legal capacity of the building was.


"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.

The club is located in the Near South Side, a commercial district near the McCormick Place convention center.

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


"You could see a mound of people. 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 them taking out a pregnant woman," Thomas said. "She was in bad shape. 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."

Amishoov Blackwell, 30, was checking his coat on the second floor when people started rushing past him. The flow of the crowd pushed him back down the stairs and he fell on top of several people, he said. He was trapped on top of the others until firefighters rescued him about 30 minutes later.


"It wasn't nothing but two girls fighting," Blackwell said. "Why'd they have to spray Mace?"

Hours after the disaster, Chiquita Rhodes was still searching for her 19-year-old sister, Charita.


"I've been to every emergency room," Rhodes said. She was told by officials to return to the medical examiner's office around noon, when the bodies would be available for relatives to identify.

She said Charita was holding onto a friend, but they were separated in the crush. A firefighter found Charita's cell phone, she added.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived at the scene early Monday and urged community members to help each other.


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

The president of a Chicago entertainment agency that has booked acts at the club said access to the building was unsafe for large crowds.


"The doorway was obviously inadequate for an emergency," said Ron Onesti of Onesti Entertainment Co. "When the place is filled to capacity, the doorway is very thin."

Photographs on Onesti's Web site depict packed crowds at the nightclub. Onesti maintained that his agency had nothing to do with managing the club and hadn't had any dealings involving it in about a year.

The melee marks one of the nation's deadliest stampedes.

In December 1991, nine young people were crushed to death in a gymnasium stairwell while awaiting a celebrity basketball game in New York.

In December 1979, 11 people were killed in Cincinnati in a crush to get into a concert by The Who.
(AP)
AP-CS-02-17-03 1250EST

divo02 said:

REALLY... this is sad

CalhounSq said:

A packed nightclub is a very unpleasant place to be. I was caught in a situation at a nightclub for a Prince afterparty a couple years ago. People who paid $20 a head were packed in like sardines at this particular club.

A section of the club with tables, chairs, pool table, bar and couches had been cordoned off for Prince and his entourage. Everyone else who paid to get into the afterparty was herded into an area and squashed in tight next to the VIP area. We had no tables or chairs. It was wall to wall bodies. We literally could not move. If you even tried to turn your body an inch, you would be in someone's face. We were pressed in there body-to-body.

People don't realize just how lethal and dangerous a crowd can be until something tragic happens.

yeah ...hope the owners have some deep pockets

It said on the news that the people in the club thought it was a terrorist attack and that's why it got so frantic with people trying to get out...

Jesus, the fear and paranoia is driving people nuts. Really sad news

This is exactly why I stay out of the packed to the edge night clubs in chicago. Crazy shit like this happenes. A sad day in chicago was today.

Here in Chicago, I spent my morning waiting to hear if anyone I knew had been hurt or killed. The club is located on the southside of Chicago and it's a spot where my sister and cousins frequent. I consider myself fortunate that no one I knew personally was involved, yet I spent this morning crying for the victims anyway. That, and praying. It's been on all the local newschannels and radio stations all day. The last count I heard for fatalities was 23. There is also a lot of blame being thrown around. It seems that the E2 should not have been open at all due to a court order because they had 80 building code violations. It seems to me that if this was the case, maybe someone should have driven by their to make sure they were not open.

Diva said:

Exactly what I thought.

Truly awful. I was in shock when I read it this morning. My beloved Chicago.

Batdance said:

That sounds AWFUL - I'm claustrophobic, I would have had to leave (but it doesn't sound like that was an option)...

Did anyone see the news footage? People were literally piled on top of each other several feet high. The people on top of the pile were higher than the top of the doorway I can only imagine... what a horrible way to go




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[This message was edited Tue Feb 18 5:00:41 PST 2003 by CalhounSq]

I heard an eye witness on the radio last night saying that when two girls started fighting the DJ said into his mic "I'm not having fighting during my set... use the spray on them!" and security sprayed mace/pepper spray into the fans hence making the whole club run for the doors, which were locked. The venue was vastly overcrowded to the point of not being able to move apparently.

I wonder who will be found liable if the club was illegally open in the first place.

Essence said:

Wait a minute - it was security that sprayed??? Oh, that is some BULLSHIT I thought one of the girls sprayed it & it got out of hand somehow. Why in the hell would security CREATE a problem like that???

The news report I heard last night said that the security started spraying and wouldn't stop and people became panicky because of the smoke and the fact they couldn't breathe. It also said the Club had been ordered closed several months ago due to many fire code violations but the owner ignored this ~ and that there were over 1000 people packed into this second story venue. What a tragic sadness ~ peace and prayers to all who have lost loved ones.