The Northampton club where two students died in October 2011 was "very chaotic" on that night, an inquest has heard.
Laurene-Danielle Jackson, 19, and Nabila Nanfuka, 22, were killed following an incident at the Lava and Ignite nightclub in Northampton four years ago. People had travelled from across the UK to go to the nightclub for the "Wickedest Wickedest" R'n'B night - when it came time for people to catch their coaches home in the early hours of the morning there was a mad rush for the exit, which resulted in the two girls being crushed to death on the stairs.
Busy bars and nightclubs carry with them risks for the people inside. That is why these businesses must have public liability cover as part of their nightclub insurance. Indeed, public liability cover is a necessity for any customer-facing business as part of their business insurance.
No charges have been brought against anyone following the deaths of Ms Jackson and Ms Nanfuka, students at Kingston University and the University of Northampton respectively. However, an inquest has begun this week into what happened that night.
According to reports by the BBC, it has been hard to decipher how many people were inside Lava and Ignite that night as when police attended the scene the clickers, which count entrants to the club, had been reset to zero. However, analysis of CCTV footage suggests up to 1,687 people were in the club.
At some time after 3am, the DJs told the people inside the nightclub that their buses would be leaving soon, which caused a stampede for the exit. A fire alarm heightened the sense of panic.
One of the clubgoers, Chinedu Ani, commented: "People were crying and screaming and moaning and some of them looked like they were running out of breath.
"If everybody had used their initiative and gone more slowly, this wouldn't have happened."
The inquest is due to last for three weeks.
