More details are beginning to surface after the tragic death of a man who attended yesterday’s Defqon.1 dance festival in Penrith. It’s now been said that the 23-year-old Victorian man died after ingesting three pills, with possibly more drugs in his body at the time.
According to ABC News, the man began having seizures at the festival just before noon and was taken to Nepean Hospital before suffering several heart attacks.
According to Head of the Drug Squad Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham, after being admitted to the Nepean, the 23-year-old “told hospital staff that he took three pills”.
The man was able to be resuscitated at the hospital but later passed away following the heart attacks. Staff also reported that the man was found to be in possession of a different “substance or substances”, though it’s still unclear whether those were also in his system at the time.
One particular artist manager in attendance at Defqon.1 told Fairfax Media she believed she saw the now-deceased man, who “appeared to be conscious but deathly white and perspiring profusely” at the time.
She also commented on the situation she believed led to the man’s overdose:
“Punters who intend to bring a few pills with them in case they feel like taking them across the course of the day are now forced to down everything at once in order to avoid possible arrest. This is costing young people’s lives.”
Detective Superintendent Bingham said he understands that response but is far from sympathetic:
“People have to be responsible for their own actions. You can’t blame the police for going out and policing a venue for trying to stop people from taking these substances. If they go, if they’re willing to – as you say – stuff these pills down their throat before they even go into the venue, that’s hardly the police’s fault.”
Detective Inspector Grant Healey also commented on gambles such as these after speaking to others who admitted to taking drugs on the day. “The problem with pills is you don’t know what you’re getting, and you’re really having a lottery with your life taking those pills,” he said.
Playing host to over 18,000 revellers in western Sydney yesterday, the famed Dutch EDM festival ended in the death of one man, with 20 punters suffering non-lethal overdoses on various party drugs and 84 drug-related arrests. Q-Dance, promoters of yesterday’s event, are yet to comment on the situation.
(Via ABC News)
