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CNN Live At Daybreak
Nightclub Nightmare in Chicago
Aired February 18, 2003 - 05:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the nightclub nightmare in Chicago. With 21 people dead and 57 others injured, an attorney for the city say they plan to go to court as early as today to seek criminal contempt charges against the club's owner.
Jeff Flock has more on this tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a horrific scene, lifeless bodies being carried from the E2 nightclub on Chicago's near South Side. Others gasping for air, lying in the street. And they just kept coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a fight and security abused their privileges, spraying mace.
FLOCK: The people inside say there was a stampede for the door down a steep staircase. That's where bodies began to stack up at the bottom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They got one entrance, exit. They would not open the back door.
FLOCK: And now Chicago's city attorneys say the club shouldn't have been opened at all. The city says the owners were in violation of a court order not to open the second floor nightclub, which is above the Epitome Restaurant.
COMM. JAMES JOYCE, CHICAGO FIRE DEPARTMENT: The owner knows damn well that he is not to open the second floor facility and he has chosen to at least on one occasion that we know of, and that was last night.
ANDRE M. GRANT, ATTORNEY FOR EPITOME: That is incorrect. There was an agreement between attorneys for Epitome Chicago, an agreement between the city's attorneys to use E2's upstairs. The only agreement or the only prohibition was not to use the VIP sections on the north side of the building.
FLOCK: Though it was supposed to be closed last April, CNN's obtained copies of letters complaining about the club for the last several months. One refers to club patrons shooting at each other in the alley. Another cites extreme overcrowding conditions. (AUDIO GAP) It is not known if the owner ever got the letter.
I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, in Chicago. (END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 18, 2003 - 05:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the nightclub nightmare in Chicago. With 21 people dead and 57 others injured, an attorney for the city say they plan to go to court as early as today to seek criminal contempt charges against the club's owner.
Jeff Flock has more on this tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a horrific scene, lifeless bodies being carried from the E2 nightclub on Chicago's near South Side. Others gasping for air, lying in the street. And they just kept coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a fight and security abused their privileges, spraying mace.
FLOCK: The people inside say there was a stampede for the door down a steep staircase. That's where bodies began to stack up at the bottom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They got one entrance, exit. They would not open the back door.
FLOCK: And now Chicago's city attorneys say the club shouldn't have been opened at all. The city says the owners were in violation of a court order not to open the second floor nightclub, which is above the Epitome Restaurant.
COMM. JAMES JOYCE, CHICAGO FIRE DEPARTMENT: The owner knows damn well that he is not to open the second floor facility and he has chosen to at least on one occasion that we know of, and that was last night.
ANDRE M. GRANT, ATTORNEY FOR EPITOME: That is incorrect. There was an agreement between attorneys for Epitome Chicago, an agreement between the city's attorneys to use E2's upstairs. The only agreement or the only prohibition was not to use the VIP sections on the north side of the building.
FLOCK: Though it was supposed to be closed last April, CNN's obtained copies of letters complaining about the club for the last several months. One refers to club patrons shooting at each other in the alley. Another cites extreme overcrowding conditions. (AUDIO GAP) It is not known if the owner ever got the letter.
I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, in Chicago. (END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
