Northampton nightclub crush inquest told of 'chaotic' scenes

An inquest into the deaths of two students who were crushed in a nightclub has heard it was "very chaotic" at the event.

Nabila Nanfuka, 22, and Laurene-Danielle Jackson, 19, were killed at the Lava and Ignite nightclub in Northampton in October 2011.

The jury at Northampton County Hall was shown footage of people getting trapped and climbing over each other to escape.

No criminal charges have been brought against anyone following the crush.

Ms Nanfuka, from Neasden in north London, was studying a leisure and tourism degree at the University of Northampton. She died at Northampton General Hospital on 19 October.

Ms Jackson, from Wembley, was studying psychology at Kingston University and died at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital on 6 November.

Both were found unconscious on the stairs inside the club and died as a result of asphyxia.

Det Insp Louise Hemmingway, of Northamptonshire Police, said it was not possible to accurately count how many people had come through the doors.

"When we recovered the clickers they were reset to zero," she told the inquest.

The police's own CCTV analysis showed up to 1,687 people were in the club, having travelled from across the UK for the "Wickedest Wickedest" R 'n' B night, the court heard.

Between 03:10 BST and 03:50 BST, DJs repeatedly told clubbers to "leave now or you will miss your coach".

People rushed from the dance floor to the exit, via the crowded cloakroom, and a fire alarm caused further panic, the court heard.

Assistant coroner Belinda Cheney described the cloakroom area as "very chaotic".

Customers, staff and later, the emergency services, were seen pulling people to safety.

The jury heard from one of the clubgoers, Chinedu Ani, a shop manager, who said that people were stuck on top of and across each other.

"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," he said.

The inquest also heard from 25-year-old clubber Abigail Atakora who spent 10 days in hospital following the incident.

"There was nobody in front of me so when I fell down I fell on the stairs, everybody fell on top of me," she said.

Jurors have already visited the site of the nightclub, which has since been turned into a gym.

The inquest is scheduled to last for three weeks.