Video footage shows crush outside Copper Face Jacks
Shocking video footage of a crush outside a Dublin nightclub last night has emerged.
The clip, showing panicked clubbers outside Copper Face Jack's on Harcourt St, was uploaded to YouTube by user Kelly Redmond.
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Gardaí are investigating the incident in which seven people were injured, among them an 18-year-old girl who was in a serious condition in hospital earlier, but is now stable and will be moved from intensive care this evening.
Youth Affairs Minister Frances Fitzgerald said a full investigation into the incident was needed.
“There is a major issue of public safety if somebody ends up critically injured after they go for a night out," the Minister said.
"I would obviously want to ensure that all venue managers are examining the implications of what happened.”
In a statement on its website, nightclub owner Cathal Jackson, a former garda, said management was " working closely with all relevant authorities to establish the cause of this incident".
"The safety and well being of our patrons is paramount at all times, and at present our major concern is for the people who were caught up in the incident and particularly those who were injured," the statement continued..
The incident happened shortly before midnight at Camden Place and Harcourt Street where a crowd of up to 1,500 had gathered to attend an event at the popular nightspot.
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The event, called "Messy Mondays" had been advertised as the first over-18s event at the club, which is usually over-21s.
It had been advertised on Facebook as "guaranteed to be busy" with drinks costing €3.50.
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One student, 19-year-old Hannah Kelly from Glasnevin, Dublin, who queued in an adjacent laneway outside for half an hour with college friends waiting to get inside, said the situation got “completely out of control” despite the efforts by bouncers to intervene.
“It wasn’t too bad at the end of the queue but as you got up towards the top, it started getting bad. I was in towards the wall and the railings and the crowds just started to surge forward," she said.
"I was shouting out ‘I can’t breathe’ and my arm was getting stretched and twisted. Some of the lads around me were shouting ‘she needs to get out’ but I didn’t get out.”
Ms Kelly, who was left with extensive bruising, said when the crush eased she saw security barriers dented and overturned and a girl lying unmoving on the ground.
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