UAE Community Blog: Eleganté

22 June, 2008

Eleganté

Apparently there was a bomb of some sort at the nightclub Eleganté early this morning (22/6) around 2.30 AM.
A mate of mine went there with friends and he says that people were trying to get out because something smelled suspicious in the air. People were coughing up blood and many had collapsed. The whole place was evacuated, obviously.

My mate is down with a bad throat and chest today. I'm thinking it was a chemical attack of some sort for it to have caused people to cough up blood, choke and/or collapse.

Does anyone have any news about this incident?

29 comments:

Anonymous said...: Kiwi, could it have been that the kind of smoke used in nightclubs gone wrong??; 22 June, 2008 16:04
Anonymous said...: Hi There,

I've been to elegante myself a few times, and they always have the smoke machines on the dance floor; which usually engulfs the whole club with smoke -- now, from experience, i know that the smoke they use is non-toxic.. So i dont know how people got poisoned or affected.. But i would imagine it would be something on those lines..

Here's hopin it was just another Dubaian gaf in safety reqs!; 22 June, 2008 16:08
Anonymous said...: but coughing up blood?; 22 June, 2008 16:13
samuraisam said...: A chemical attack that didn't permanently (from the sounds of it) injure anyone or kill anyone?

Unlikely.

And I'd think it likely for a 'bomb' to have an explosion.

Any more details?; 22 June, 2008 16:28
CG said...: I saw smoke coming from the bakery section in the supermarket.....I ran for my life. Did you guys hear anything about it?
Dubai is crumbling.; 22 June, 2008 20:21
Editor said...: And I am so intrigued from this smoke that may volunteer few hours and grace the club with my presence in exchange of few pictures of the dance floor.; 22 June, 2008 22:52
Kiwi Boy said...: Anon @ 16.04: Maybe you're right, but surely the smoke machines don't spew out poisonous gases that make people collapse.. do they?

Samuraisam: The thing is that I got this news second-hand, so I honestly don't know if anyone's permanently injured or even dead. I was talking to my cousin whose friends were there last night, and they said that there were 30+ ambulance vans at the scene. I'm sure that says something about the number of people affected.
And I admit, I was wrong to have used the term 'bomb'. For all I know the chemical could have even been sprayed inside the nightclub.

The only details/update I've got are from talking to my cousin whose friends were there. She says it might have been tear gas, but I don't know of any tear gas formula that can make you cough up blood or cause you to faint.
Thinking laterally, my cousin pointed out that the timing of the attack says something: 2.30 AM is when they start collecting the payments for the reservations/food/drinks before they close at 3 AM. So, by leaking/spraying this chemical out at 2.30, and basically causing en masse evacuation of the place, someone could have been trying to avoid a payment for a really big order. Of course, it's all just theory right now.; 23 June, 2008 00:03
Emaratiyah said...: CG its 1,30 am and your comment made me laugh so hard.

A bunch of histrionic people just ready to be "attacked"...

LOL

Good one CG.; 23 June, 2008 01:30
Anonymous said...: There was actually a tear gas cannister let of in Serai a few weeks ago...maybe there's a serial tear gasser!!; 23 June, 2008 11:50
Salam Hafez said...: Hi,

Im a journalist with the National. If anyone has anyfurther information and would like to talk about their experience then can you please email me on

Salam_hafez@hotmail.com
And shafez@thenational.ae

Bests

Salam; 23 June, 2008 15:38
BuJ said...: i'm in england and shitting myself big time.. man..
thank Allah for british security.. they always give us the best advice to keep us safe.

down with bin landings.; 23 June, 2008 16:36
Anonymous said...: Journalist Hafez. Your email address sounds like Shavez. Are you a communist? (as opposed to columnist?); 23 June, 2008 22:53
rosh said...: "...there were 30+ ambulance vans at the scene..."

Whoa! Kiwi, sure cousin didn't have one too many...:) Aight, sorry, but 30+ at a club?; 24 June, 2008 00:30
BuJ said...: Rosh, you reminded me, once I took these pills from a black guy in a club.. i had a bad headache and i thought it would help.. but at the end i started to see some really amazing things and forgot about the headache.. i might have seen 300 ambulances.. honest!; 24 June, 2008 00:59
Anonymous said...: KT speaks about it here.; 24 June, 2008 08:44
Anonymous said...: 7Days also reports it. Funny that Gulf News doesn't (if it does, they hid it in a very obscure place; but then GN is obscure itself); 24 June, 2008 09:25
Anonymous said...: Congrats Kiwi!
You are much better than the investigative reporters over there.
They take days to get the news.; 24 June, 2008 13:13
Anonymous said...: Thanks, Hatem, for the KT link.

Excerpts from the same:

"...at least two women were taken to the hospital while others were treated on the spot.

The place was evacuated.

...(people) were shell-shocked to see smoke and foul-smelling gas spreading in the club premises.

Guests started screaming and shouting for help as they rushed towards the exit door.

An eyewitness said that several ambulances and paramedics were stationed outside the night club and the traffic came to a standstill.

"People were vomiting and coughing. Some of them even collapsed on the floor due to suffocation. Paramedics had to immediately attend to the guests as they were struggling to breathe," said the eyewitness..."

Sorry for the long cut-and paste--this was just to help Cg and Belle...; 24 June, 2008 14:02
Gargoyle said...: If it wasn't being so studiously underplayed in the papers, it would have been just another incident. But this new casualness in media that would treat a leaking garden hose as a full-page drama? Not entirely satisfactory.; 24 June, 2008 14:39
Anonymous said...: So, I guess this means the British were right to issue the terror alert a few days ago ...

"Three British nationals were detained yesterday morning for spraying tear gas in a night club in the emirate." (from KT article); 24 June, 2008 17:14
BuJ said...: Rosh, have seen the latest GN galleries about dubai in the 1980s?

here; 24 June, 2008 18:18
rosh said...: BuJ, thanks. Sorry, but I've deleted off my prior comment - had more emotions than sensibility, perhaps. They can call it desolate fishing village or whatever - it was the best kept secret. None of the drunken shit and stink bombs. I hope they whip those three red/blue and black!; 24 June, 2008 19:15
Anonymous said...: "Sorry for the long cut-and paste--this was just to help Cg and Belle"

LOL

Ok this is for you "Three British nationals were detained yesterday morning for spraying tear gas in a night club in the emirate."; 24 June, 2008 21:31
Anonymous said...: Oh No.. so sorry this has happened in Dubai..

Well, people collapsing all at once with the same symptoms ( vomiting and coughing up blood ), it could be some sort of inhalational injury; a toxic chemical of some sort..

However, there is a major difference medically between coughing up blood and vomiting blood.. the former can indicate chemical poisoning in addition to so many other things, and the later drug ( mainly cocaine )or alcohol overdose.. so, just make sure what went wrong with those who got sick before blaming it to an attack of some sort !

Maybe it's a cocaine tank that exploded instead !; 24 June, 2008 23:54
Anonymous said...: Was it filmed by any chance ? on a cell phone or something.. it would be fun to watch !; 25 June, 2008 00:11
Anonymous said...: Maybe they'd all been drinking tomato juice?; 25 June, 2008 00:45
hut said...: British people collapsing, vomiting and coughing up blood -

What is all the fuss about? This sounds just like an average Friday night out at the West End.; 25 June, 2008 10:14
Lirun said...: as longt as its not terror..; 26 June, 2008 20:16
Anonymous said...: Dubai is blessed, May it remain so!; 26 June, 2008 21:28