Chicago club had received court order to shut

YESTERDAY’s tragedy at Rhode Island was the second deadly US club disaster in four days. Twenty one people were killed and more than 50 injured during a stampede in a Chicago nightclub.

Monday’s deadly stampede at the nightclub was triggered when at least one security guard used pepper spray to break up a fight.

In the panic, revellers ran down a narrow stairway, and bodies were trampled and flattened.

More than 50 people were injured.

Attorneys who represent the estate of one of the stampede victims and another woman who was injured said a private building inspector they hired to examine the nightclub found several alleged violations.

The E2 nightspot had a reputation as a magnet for celebrities and athletes, but it also had a history of trouble with city regulators and the police, who were called to the location repeatedly because of disturbances.

Building inspectors cited the establishment for 11 code violations, and last July, a Cook County judge ordered the building landlord and Kyles to stop using the second floor, where the nightclub is located.

An attorney for Kyles claims the judge’s order pertained to only one section of the nightclub. When authorities tried to shut down the Epitome restaurant and the E2 nightclub last year, community leaders rushed to defend it, saying it was an important, black-owned business.

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called Epitome “one of the few fine dining establishments in Chicago owned and operated by African Americans”, in a letter to a city alderman.