Two dead after Defqon. 1 dance music festival in Penrith
Two dance music fans are dead, a woman is critical and the conditions of two hospitalised men have stablised, after multiple suspected overdoses at Sydney festival Defqon. 1 on Saturday.
NSW
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Two dance music fans are dead, a woman is critical and the condition of two hospitalised men have stablised, after multiple suspected overdoses at Sydney festival Defqon. 1 on Saturday.
A 23-year-old man, from Edensor Park in western Sydney, and a 21-year-old woman, from Melbourne, collapsed at the festival in Castlereagh about 9pm on Saturday and died a short time later in nearby Nepean Hospital, police said on Sunday.
At 6pm on Sunday, a Jamisontown woman, 26, also remained in a critical condition at Nepean Hospital while an Artarmon man, 19, was stable in intensive care at Westmead Hospital and a 20-year-old man was seriously ill but stable at Liverpool Hospital.
Authorities said the conditions of the two men had improved since they were admitted.
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The Department of Health is fast tracking toxicology investigations to determine whether the casualties died after taking the same drugs.
A total of 15 revellers are being treated at Nepean Hospital.
About 700 people sought assistance from medical staff at the festival.
One witness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said five revellers who became critical first presented to medical staff in a “semi-conscious state”.
“They just looked like people who were a little bit too drunk but then things went downhill very quickly,” the witness said.
More than 180 police officers searched 365 revellers at the annual festival attended by more than 30,000 fans and arrested 60 drug suppliers, three of them reportedly found with commercial quantities and one with a bag of 300 pills.
One was arrested with more than 20 caps of GHB and two 17-year-old women allegedly carried 120 capsules “internally” into the venue.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has vowed to permanently shut down the festival which was held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.
“We will do everything we can to shut this down. I don’t want to see this event happen again,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“I’m absolutely aghast at what’s occurred. I don’t want any family to go through the tragedy that some families are waking up to this morning. It’s just horrible to think about.
“This is an unsafe event and I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure it never happens again.”
Acting Assistant Commissioner Allan Sicard on Sunday issued a stern warning to not take illicit drugs.
“We’ve done everything possible to make these events safe but we cannot get into the heads of people when they make the decision to take illicit drugs,” he said.
“They are criminally or illicitly obtained. The quality of these drugs cannot be ascertained.
“The lives of five people’s families have potentially changed forever as a result of last night.
“Illicit drugs are illicit — do not take them, they are dangerous substances.
“We can only police an event to the extent that we can. We had uniformed and covert police at the event.”
“We planned for this but it’s a personal decision to supply drugs and take drugs. I’m a dad myself. I can’t for the life of me understand why drugs are taken when you don’t know what’s in them,” Mr Sicard said
A team of 20 detectives were already dispatched to police the event before it happened.
“When the first overdose was called in that’s when we went into action and realised something was seriously wrong.”
Defqon. 1 organisers had warned ticket holders the festival’s drug policy was zero tolerance.
“This means that all types of soft and hard drugs are prohibited. If drugs are found, you will be handed over to the police,” a statement on the festival’s website said.
A 33-year-old man from Mt Pritchard has been charged with supply a prohibited drug after allegedly being found with MDMA.
A 27-year-old man, from Sydney, has been charged with supply a prohibited drug.
All two men were refused bail to Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday.
Local detectives have formed a new police strike force, dubbed Highworth, to investigate the two deaths.
NSW Premier’s swift reaction
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday vowed to shut down the Penrith dance festival from taking place again and ruled out a push for pill testing — warning it was “giving a green light to drugs”.
She said the “devastating” events had prompted her to speak with NSW authorities to ensure “this unsafe event … never happens again”.
“I’m absolutely aghast at what’s occurred,” she said. “I never want to see this event held in Sydney or NSW again.
She said young lives were “lost for no reason”, despite emergency help and health facilities being on site.
Asked if pill testing before music festivals could have averted the tragedy, Ms Berejiklian rejected the idea, saying there was no such thing as a safe drug.
“Anyone who advocates pill testing is giving the green light to drugs,” she said. “That is absolutely unacceptable. There is no such thing as a safe drug.
“Pill testing is not a solution. Giving a green light to taking drugs is not a solution. That exposes people to risk and unfortunately tragic consequences.”
She said the tragedy was a warning to anyone contemplating taking drugs.
“Do not take them,” she said.
She said families had woken up today with their lives “changed forever” because of what occurred.
“I want to send a strong message to any young person, anyone who attends an event like this: there is no such thing as a safe drug.
“We have zero tolerance to drugs. You should not take drugs, at these events or anywhere else.
“Last night’s tragic consequences demonstrated this. If I have anything to do with it, this event won’t happen again.”