Nightclub is shut down after punch-up between the stars

New York police have shut down a nightclub after R&B singer Chris Brown and rapper Drake got into a brawl over fellow artiste Rihanna which left eight injured.

A New York Police Department spokesman said the W.i.P. (Work in Progress) basement club in Manhattan’s SoHo neighbourhood was closed due to unspecified code violations.

“They were closed indefinitely until they clear up the breaches,” she added.

Among those injured in the fight were three black men aged 23 to 30, a black woman, two white women and two Hispanic women, according to police.

The spokesman, who would not reveal the victims’ identities, said the injuries included lacerations to the face, forehead, neck, head and arm, a possible concussion and a contusion to the head.

The New York Daily News cited a witness as saying that Drake, who briefly dated Rihanna after she broke up with Mr Brown, started the brawl by hurling a bottle of alcohol at him.

“Drake threw the bottle at Brown, but it missed him and hit his bodyguard,” aspiring director and musician Kenneth McCray told reporters. “It looked like it was Drake that started it.”

“It was crazy. Some of the bottles were already full. They were like bombs. People were running and screaming.”