The organisers of the Rainbow Serpent Festival have issued a statement on their Facebook page following the death of a 34-year-old man at the festival on the weekend. Daniel Buccianti died at around 1.30am on Sunday morning; police have said the circumstances are not suspicious.
According to The Courier he called his mother a few hours before he died, saying ‘Mum I have taken some very bad acid and everything is very odd here’. 40 minutes later he called her back saying he was OK. Just a few hours later he was found dead.
A Police Spokesperson said the matter was now before the Coroner and it would be inappropriate to comment any further.
Statement from Rainbow Serpent Festival organisers:
Hey everyone. We truly hope you all had an amazing weekend. Sadly we need to acknowledge that a young man passed away at Rainbow this year. As yet the cause of death has not been confirmed and we have cooperated fully with police and the coroner and await their findings. Everyone at Rainbow is saddened by this tragedy and we ask that you please refrain from jumping to conclusions or making unnecessary comments. Naturally our heartfelt condolences go out to his grieving family and friends. 🙁
According to reports, paramedics also treated another man on the Saturday night who suffered a cardiac arrest; he was rushed to Ballarat Base Hospital in a serious condition.
Punters at the festival have also made comments about the high temperatures and how dehydrated they were on the day. One person said:
I was drinking electrolytes and water all weekend and still found myself dehydrated on Sunday before I returned home.
