Saturday night’s incident in Paceville should reinforce calls for legal reforms to protect children who frequented nightclubs and parties, Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato said yesterday.]

The Prime Minister yesterday said he would order a review of the situation in Paceville outlets, particularly after children were found to have been present. What had taken place was a wake up call and the government would act after years of inaction

“As an office, we have been highlighting the need for supervision and enforcement at these places for years. Parties and similar events need to be well regulated,” Ms D’Amato said.

She was reacting to the incident that took place at PlusOne nightclub at 1.20am yesterday when a glass bannister collapsed during a stampede out of the club, injuring a total of 74 people.

Two girls, 13 and 15, were in intensive care, both in a critical condition.

While acknowledging that health and safety issues should be addressed irrespective of how old the injured were, Ms D’Amato insisted that coming up with alternative entertainment for children was a pressing issue that needed to be addressed.

The incident, she said, was proof enough of such a need.

“These children would be of a smaller stature than older ones and so, in this case, for instance, they would automatically be in more danger than others,” Ms D’Amato said.

Children’s presence of mind, especially during such incidents, would not be as sharp, either, which made them even more susceptible to getting hurt, she said.

Ms D’Amato insisted that while the incident could serve to highlight the problem of children at nightclubs, this was not something new and the office had for years been calling for more regulations.

“One can hope that, at least, after Saturday’s incident, what we’ve been trying to achieve for years will materialise,” she said.