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CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Hundreds of people rushed the exits of a crowded Chicago nightclub early Monday after a disturbance, only to find that many passages were locked or blocked, police and fire officials said.
Twenty-one people were confirmed dead after the stampede at E2, a nightclub above the Epitome restaurant on the city's South Side. Thirty people were transported to hospitals, and an unknown number went to hospitals on their own, officials said.
"Most of the deaths occurred by cardiac arrest," said Fire Commissioner James Joyce.
Witnesses said the rush for the doors occurred after security guards used pepper spray and Mace to break up a fight between two female patrons at the club.
Police Superintendent Terry Hillard said that there was an altercation between two people, but investigators have gotten conflicting reports on who was involved and how the spray got into the air. Hillard said it was early in the investigation.
Joyce said firefighters first were called to the nightclub with a report that a pregnant woman was down and then sent for backup once they realized that the problem was more serious.
Firefighters used sledgehammers and pry bars to break open some of the club's doors and try to rescue people trapped inside.
Fire Cmdr. Will Knight said many of the victims were trampled or crushed as they rushed to exit the club.
"They were all coming out the front door," Knight told CNN Radio. "Our firefighters had to cut the door open from the rear of the building."
Knight said the area was being treated as a crime scene.
"There were people trying to get out that could not get out," Joyce said. "Locked and blocked doors are a contributing factor. We cannot explain how management or ownership would allow that."
Locked doors would be a violation of fire codes, Joyce said.
Hillard said police are interviewing the club's owners and security guards and would review video taken in the club. Joyce said it was unclear how many people were in the club. Early estimates were between 500 and 1,000 patrons.
When some of the patrons began to vomit or pass out -- apparently from the powder or Mace fumes -- the crowd scrambled to get down the club's single open staircase leading outside, fire officials said earlier.
"The smaller women were getting pushed and stamped on because the bigger guys were really trying to make headway to get out the door, but once they came to the main entrance it just kind of like got stuck," one witness said.
"They're stuck in the hallway. They literally can't move," a panicked patron told police.
Survivors recounted horror stories. "Everybody smashed; people crying, couldn't breathe," patron Reggie Clark told The Associated Press. "Two ladies next to me died. A guy under me passed out."
"People just died in my arms," club patron Tonita Matthews told the Chicago NBC television affiliate, according to Reuters.
Cory Thomas, 33, said he was waiting outside the club with friends when the stampede occurred, according to the AP.
"You could see a mound of people," Thomas told the AP. "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.
"I saw them taking out a pregnant woman," Thomas said. "She was in bad shape. I saw at least 10 lifeless bodies."
The Rev. Jesse Jackson held a prayer service Monday near the club and said members of his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and other community leaders were meeting with victims' families.
"We've been trying to organize families that are in such stress by the suddenness of this," Jackson said. "We've been to various hospitals today, identifying bodies and listening to the testimonies of those who survived, identifying next of kin."
The incident occurred around 3 a.m. (4 a.m. EST). The nightclub is at 24th Street and South Michigan Avenue.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/02/17/chicago.nightclub/index.html
Twenty-one people were confirmed dead after the stampede at E2, a nightclub above the Epitome restaurant on the city's South Side. Thirty people were transported to hospitals, and an unknown number went to hospitals on their own, officials said.
"Most of the deaths occurred by cardiac arrest," said Fire Commissioner James Joyce.
Witnesses said the rush for the doors occurred after security guards used pepper spray and Mace to break up a fight between two female patrons at the club.
Police Superintendent Terry Hillard said that there was an altercation between two people, but investigators have gotten conflicting reports on who was involved and how the spray got into the air. Hillard said it was early in the investigation.
Joyce said firefighters first were called to the nightclub with a report that a pregnant woman was down and then sent for backup once they realized that the problem was more serious.
Firefighters used sledgehammers and pry bars to break open some of the club's doors and try to rescue people trapped inside.
Fire Cmdr. Will Knight said many of the victims were trampled or crushed as they rushed to exit the club.
"They were all coming out the front door," Knight told CNN Radio. "Our firefighters had to cut the door open from the rear of the building."
Knight said the area was being treated as a crime scene.
"There were people trying to get out that could not get out," Joyce said. "Locked and blocked doors are a contributing factor. We cannot explain how management or ownership would allow that."
Locked doors would be a violation of fire codes, Joyce said.
Hillard said police are interviewing the club's owners and security guards and would review video taken in the club. Joyce said it was unclear how many people were in the club. Early estimates were between 500 and 1,000 patrons.
When some of the patrons began to vomit or pass out -- apparently from the powder or Mace fumes -- the crowd scrambled to get down the club's single open staircase leading outside, fire officials said earlier.
"The smaller women were getting pushed and stamped on because the bigger guys were really trying to make headway to get out the door, but once they came to the main entrance it just kind of like got stuck," one witness said.
"They're stuck in the hallway. They literally can't move," a panicked patron told police.
Survivors recounted horror stories. "Everybody smashed; people crying, couldn't breathe," patron Reggie Clark told The Associated Press. "Two ladies next to me died. A guy under me passed out."
"People just died in my arms," club patron Tonita Matthews told the Chicago NBC television affiliate, according to Reuters.
Cory Thomas, 33, said he was waiting outside the club with friends when the stampede occurred, according to the AP.
"You could see a mound of people," Thomas told the AP. "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.
"I saw them taking out a pregnant woman," Thomas said. "She was in bad shape. I saw at least 10 lifeless bodies."
The Rev. Jesse Jackson held a prayer service Monday near the club and said members of his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and other community leaders were meeting with victims' families.
"We've been trying to organize families that are in such stress by the suddenness of this," Jackson said. "We've been to various hospitals today, identifying bodies and listening to the testimonies of those who survived, identifying next of kin."
The incident occurred around 3 a.m. (4 a.m. EST). The nightclub is at 24th Street and South Michigan Avenue.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/02/17/chicago.nightclub/index.html
