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''TERRORIST ATTACK!'' SCREAMED PATRON AND STAMPEDE BEGAN

Reuters: Grant told the Chicago Defender newspaper at least one patron incited the panic by shouting "terrorist attack." www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18119229

NBC5: "Some witnesses said the panic escalated because the club patrons thought it was a terrorist attack," NBC5's Kim Vatis reported. www.nbc5.com/news/1985505/detail.html
Building in deadly Chicago club stampede closed


By Andrew Stern


Reuters


Wednesday, 19 February 2003


http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18119229





CHICAGO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The building housing a Chicago nightclub where 21 people died in a panicked rush for the exit was ordered closed on Tuesday as city lawyers sought to jail the owner and the first lawsuits were filed in the case.





A city building inspector testified at a Cook County Court hearing that cracks had formed in trusses holding up the structure's roof and a disputed balcony inside the club since his last inspection four months ago, and he warned that the entire building could collapse.





Lawyers representing LeMirage Inc., owners of the now-shuttered E2 club, agreed to temporarily close the Epitome restaurant on the building's first floor and to erect a protective canopy around the two-story structure, but they denied the club was operating illegally.





"They (the city's lawyers) are wrong, absolutely wrong," attorney Tom Royce said outside court. "Charges of irresponsibility are inappropriate."





City officials did not offer an explanation of why the July order to shut the club down was not enforced. Police Commissioner Terry Hillard said his department was not aware of the order, though police had been called dozens of times to deal with disturbances outside the club.





"There was nothing the city could have done," said Mara Georges, the city's top lawyer, blaming the club's owners. "If the city put a padlock on the doors they would have cut the lock. ... These people were intent on breaking the law."





Georges said after the hearing: "There was a willful disregard of the court order which led to a horrible loss of life. Obviously, additional punishment is needed."





Hundreds of club-goers packed the dance floor early on Monday when security guards used either pepper spray or Mace to break up a fight, setting off a panicked flight down a steep, narrow stairway to the exit.





VICTIMS CRUSHED





An avalanche of bodies blocked the doors, crushing victims underneath who were unable to breathe. The victims, most of them in their 20s and 30s, died from cardiac arrest.





Royce said he would argue that the previous court orders banning occupancy referred only to so-called sky-boxes that had been added above the dance floor, and not to the club itself.





"If this club was not supposed to be open, they would not have been (advertising) on the radio and bringing in high-profile entertainment," which has included such acts as 50 Cent, DMX, and JaRule, said defense lawyer Andre Grant. He blamed the actions of security staff hired by a promoter contracted to provide most of the club's security guards.





Grant told the Chicago Defender newspaper at least one patron incited the panic by shouting "terrorist attack."





The city said Monday's incident may have compounded the building's structural problems by creating potentially catastrophic cracks in the trusses.





Housing Court Judge Daniel Lynch, who issued the initial order in July, refused to grant the city's request to have the club's primary owner, Dwain Kyles, jailed for up to a year on a contempt charge. Kyles was summoned to appear on Friday and lawyers for LeMirage were given time to prepare their defense.





Meanwhile, the first lawsuit was filed on behalf of victims and more litigation is expected. James Montgomery, the Chicago law partner of attorney Johnnie Cochran, famed for defending O.J. Simpson, said the firm would file suit on Wednesday on behalf of several victims' families.





Rev. Jesse Jackson urged an investigation independent of city authorities. "The Corporation Counsel (the city's lawyers), and the fire department and the police department themselves may be a part of the lawsuit. You can't expect them to police themselves," Jackson said.





Jackson is a friend of Rev. Samuel Kyles, the father of the club owner. The two accompanied Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was assassinated in 1968.





http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18119229





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Judge Shuts Club Down, Issues Order On Contempt Charges


Police Seek Owner Of Entertainment Company


POSTED: 6:47 a.m. CST February 18, 2003


UPDATED: 4:50 p.m. CST February 18, 2003


http://www.nbc5.com/news/1985505/detail.html





CHICAGO -- Housing Court Judge Daniel Lynch ordered the Epitome restaurant and E2 nightclub to shut down immediately and gave the owner of the nightclub, Dwaine Kyles, 10 days to respond to a city attorney's request for contempt charges against him. Kyles did not attend the hearing.








Crushed To Death





Feb. 18: Club Owner's Connections Include Jesse Jackson & Son


Feb. 18: Interview With Club Promoter Sought For Questioning


Video: E2 Nightclub 911 Calls


Feb. 18: Unit 5 Exclusive: Two Security Guards Sought For Questioning


Feb. 18: Source Says Location Of Most Stampede Deaths Is Surprise


Feb. 18: A.P. Reports On City Officials' Tuesday Remarks


Feb. 18: First Civil Suits In Club Disaster Are Filed


Feb. 18: Judge Shuts Club Down, Issues Order On Contempt Charges


Feb. 17: First Paramedics On The Scene


Feb. 17: Relatives Make Grim Trip To Morgue


Feb. 17: Victims Identified


Feb. 17: Club Operated In Violation Of Court Order


Feb. 17: Club Operator: "We Had Deal With City To Keep Operating"


Feb. 17: Who Owns Epitome Night Club?


Feb. 17: Entertainment Agency Says Club Was Overcrowded Discuss This Incident


SLIDESHOW: 2347 S. Michigan Ave.


Video: Mayor Daley On Club Deaths


Video Report: Night Club Deaths


Video Report: Criminal Charges Possible


Do you look for an exit when you enter a nightclub?


If you were there, Area 4 police want to talk to you: (312) 746-8252

















Crowd Stampedes


The Associated Press compiled a list of cases of crowd stampede deaths over the years at concerts, at soccer stadiums, at religious gatherings and other events.





Music Venues





Dec. 3, 1979, Cincinnati: 11 killed in a crush to get into a concert by The Who.


Aug. 29, 1980, Maseru, Lesotho: About 20 people killed in a stampede when police in the African country fired tear gas into a crowd trying to force its way into a concert by singer Steve Kekana.


Sept. 30, 1987, Mexico City: Four killed when 25,000 people waiting for a performance by Timbiriche, Flans and Fresas pushed into the concert area.


Dec. 19, 1987, Nashville, Tenn.: Two teens killed in the crush of a crowd departing from a Public Enemy concert.


Jan. 18, 1991, Salt Lake City: Three teens killed when the crowd at an AC-DC concert rushed the stage.


Dec. 28, 1991, New York: Nine suffocated in pileup of people trying to get into City College of New York gymnasium for charity basketball game played by rappers.


May 30, 1999, Minsk, Belarus: 53 killed when a crowd fleeing storm at a rock concert and beer festival stampeded in an underground passage.


July 1, 2000, Copenhagen, Denmark: Eight killed in crush of fans trying to get closer to Pearl Jam at an outdoor concert.


Feb. 17, 2003, Chicago: At least 21 killed at a Chicago nightclub when guests rushed to the exits after someone used Mace or pepper spray.








Soccer Stadiums





June 23, 1968, Buenos Aires, Argentina: 74 killed when soccer fans try to leave stadium by closed exit and are crushed by others.


March 12, 1988, Katmandu, Nepal: At least 93 killed and more than 100 injured when soccer fans fleeing a hailstorm stampede into locked stadium exits.


April 15, 1989, Sheffield, England: 95 crushed to death when police opened gates to alleviate crowding at soccer match.


June 16, 1996, Lusaka, Zambia: Nine soccer fans crushed to death and 78 others injured during a stampede.


April 11, 2001, Johannesburg, South Africa: 43 people killed and 155 injured as fans try to push into overcrowded stadium.








Religious Festivals





July 2, 1990, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: 1,426 pilgrims killed in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites. It is the worst hajj tragedy.


May 23, 1994, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: 270 killed in a stampede as worshippers surge during stoning of the devil ritual.


April 9, 1998, Mina, Saudi Arabia: About 180 trampled to death when panic erupted after several pilgrims fell off an overpass.


March 5, 2001, Mina, Saudi Arabia: 35 killed in stampede during stoning of the devil ritual.


March 31, 2001, Multan, Pakistan: 30 people killed when crowd of worshippers surged through the gates of a shrine.


Feb. 11, 2003, Mina, Saudi Arabia: 14 Muslim pilgrims trampled to death at a ritual near the end of the hajj pilgrimage.








Other Stampede Tragedies





Dec. 4, 1999, Vienna, Austria: Five people trampled to death in a stampede of spectators at a snowboarding event.


Dec. 1, 2001, Gaibandha, Bangladesh: At least 31 killed in a stampede of people scrambling for charity clothes.


July 21, 2001, Akashi, Japan: 11 trampled to death when youths pushing through a crowd at a fireworks festival triggered a stampede.














The order to padlock the facilities at the building was based on city inspectors' evidence of structural weaknesses that raise safety concerns.





The city's requests for legal action follow the Monday morning tragedy where 21 club patrons were crushed to death as they ran down a stairway to a locked exit, reportedly trying to escape pepper spray or Mace that security guards had sprayed on the crowd on the dance floor.





NBC5 reported Tuesday afternoon that a source who has seen the high-quality security videotape that was taken from inside the nightclub said it shows that most victims did not die at the bottom of the stairway leading from the second-floor E2 club down to an exit door. Instead, the source said, the tape shows hundreds of people in a panic, tripping at the head of the stairway. That is where most of the fatal victims were trampled and killed, according to the source.





City Pursues 3 Legal Strategies





Mayor Richard M. Daley made his first public appearance since the death of his mother Sunday night, to announce the city's plans against the E2 nightclub and its owner and operators.





Associated Press Reports On City Officials' Tuesday Remarks





The owner of the actual building where the club is located is Lesly Motors Inc., a company that had once owned an auto dealership next door.





City Corporation Counsel Mara Georges said that besides the requests for a contempt of court charges and a temporary restraining order to shut the club down, officials are also pursuing a liquor license case against the club.





City officials claimed the nightclub was ordered to remain closed while architectural improvements and repairs were made to the building.





The nightclub above the Epitome restaurant, at 2347 S. Michigan Ave., should never have been open Sunday night, officials said, because of a court order requiring it to remain closed until building violations were corrected. City inspectors slapped the building with at least 11 citations for code violations last July, officials said, and city attorneys had been to court to get the order enforced.





"The owner (of the club) knows damn well that he is not to open that second-floor facility," Joyce said Monday. "And he has chosen to at least on one occasion."





"Let's remember one thing here," Joyce added. "There was reckless conduct on the part of management. I have never heard of spraying a crowd ... That's tanatamount to yelling 'Fire' at a crowded theater."





Club's Response





The club (E2) was operated by Le Mirage All-Night Studio Inc., which also owned the Epitome restaurant downstairs.





An attorney for Le Mirage, Andre Grant, said lawyers for the club and the city had reached a deal in October under which the second-floor nightclub would remain in operation. Grant said the club operators were due in court again next month.





Grant said the club's deal with the city provided that an upper level section of VIP seating, known as skyboxes, was closed. Grant said the club honored that agreement and the skyboxes were closed Sunday night.





City officials rejected Grant's claims that they had a deal. Georges said the owners and operators of the nightclub were intent on breaking the law.





Grant said his clients rented the club to a private promoter, Envy Entertainment, Sunday night. Le Mirage and those promoters brought in 18 security guards, he said, and Le Mirage provided 10 guards. Grant said it was the Envy security guards who sprayed pepper gas or Mace.





Police Superintendent Terry Hillard said Tuesday that investigators want to locate Envy Entertainment executive Marco Flores for questioning. Hillard said Flores apparently left town yesterday, but he did not know if it was a planned trip or an attempt to flee.





"Some witnesses said the panic escalated because the club patrons thought it was a terrorist attack," NBC5's Kim Vatis reported.





The Sun-Times reported Tuesday that the disc jockey at the Sunday night event encouraged security guards to use pepper spray to control the crowd after a fight broke out on the dance floor.





Some Victims There For Ladies Night





Reporting outside the Medical Examiner's Office Tuesday morning, NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern said the tragedy has become known as the worst nightclub stampede in American history.





Twelve women and nine men died in the stampede, ranging in age from 19 to 43. Many of them had Monday off for Presidents Day and had gone to E2 for Ladies Night, because women were admitted free, Ahern reported.





Civil Lawsuits





At least two civil lawsuits were announced today.





First Civil Suits In Club Disaster Are Filed





"It would appear that the city of Chicago has had some history of trying to enforce code violations," Tom Prindable, an attorney in one of the civil suits, said. "It would be very interesting to see about that history."





So far, nearly half of the families of the 21 fatal victims have contacted lawyers.











Remember The Victims





After speaking about the city's legal intentions, the mayor called for Chicagoans to remember the victims next Sunday.





"This Sunday, at noon, we are asking everyone in Chicago to say a prayer for the vicitms," Daley said. "We are asking places of worship to ring their bells 21 times."





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