Two men have been arrested in connection with the horror knifing of a man in a street battle outside a Hamilton nightspot.

Officers from the Major Incident Room -- activated to probe the knife murder of Jermaine Pitcher, 27 -- made the arrests late on Sunday night, although Police only released the news late yesterday afternoon.

The arrests came only hours after Mr. Pitcher was hacked to death outside Champions Sports Club, formerly Ambassador's Club, on the city's Reid Street East. Three other men were injured in the incident.

A Police statement confirmed: "Police have arrested two men who are believed to have been involved in the incident early Sunday morning outside the Champions Sports Club.

"The two, a 23-year-old Warwick man and a 24-year-old St. George's man, remain in Police custody at this time.'' But the spokesman added: "Meantime, the murder investigation remains in its early stages -- court appearances are not anticipated in the immediate future.'' An eyewitness said that blood-soaked Mr. Pitcher was rushed to hospital after collapsing in the doorway of the open-all-night private members' club just after 5 a.m., but was declared dead on arrival at the King Edward Hospital.

The three other men -- including Mr. Pitcher's half brother Shane Ingham and Ryan (Tiger) Ball, all said to be from St. George's Parish or Warwick -- were also taken to the King Edward.

Police have not officially named the three others injured -- but released condition reports on two of the victims.

A statement said that one of the injured was in a "stable'' condition in the hospital's intensive care unit, while another was in "good'' condition on a general ward.

Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Paula Cox did not return calls from The Royal Gazette yesterday.

But Shadow Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Michael Dunkley condemned the killing -- and called for new solutions to social problems which lead to crime.

And he expressed his personal condolences to the family of the dead man and sympathies to the relatives of the others injured in the incident.

Arrests made following nightclub killing Mr. Dunkley said: "I'm shocked and stunned that this type of tragedy has come home to roost in Bermuda.

"And you couldn't find a tragedy of more epic proportions -- right on one of our busiest thoroughfares.'' Mr. Dunkley added: "We have some grotesque problems in Bermuda -- crime and drugs issues.

"And, unless we take a firm stance, we will see more of this kind of thing.

"We need to get tough, we need a plan of action and we need to get to the symptoms of these problems.'' But he declined to comment on whether the status of after-hours private clubs like Champions -- which normally opens until 5-6 a.m. -- should be looked at in the light of the Reid Street killing.

Mr. Dunkley said that violent crime like the murder of Mr. Pitcher was still "relatively rare'' on the Island.

But he added: "Anybody who keeps their ear to the ground knows there are vicious stabbings -- only the weekend before there was one.

"And if we don't step up and come to the wicket, it will only get worse.''