Questions raised after nine revellers overdosed on MDMA at Hardmission Festival

Four revellers are still fighting for life after an ecstasy overdose at a Flemington rave, with health officials and event organisers under fire for failing to warn attendees as the crisis unfolded.

Rave organisers and health officials have been slammed for not warning revellers of a spate of ecstasy overdoses at a hardcore dance event, with three people still fighting for life.

Serious questions have been raised about the handling of the emergency and the subsequent lack of transparency over what unfolded at the festival, which was attended by more than 10,000 partygoers on Saturday.

Nine revellers – aged in their teens and 20s – overdosed on MDMA at the Hardmission Festival held at Flemington Racecourse, with eight of them put into an induced coma and another taken to hospital for treatment.

On Monday, three were fighting for life but on Tuesday, the Health Department confirmed another person was in a critical condition.

It’s understood the fourth reveller’s condition was reclassified based on medical advice.

A spokeswoman said two were in a stable condition and three had been discharged from hospital.

Eight revellers were put into an induced coma after overdosing. Picture: Instagram

It is understood the situation escalated rapidly, consistent with a number of people having ingested the drug at the same time.

Opposition mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy slammed authorities for not issuing warnings to revellers as the crisis unfolded.

“Premier (Jacinta) Allan must explain why an emergency drug alert wasn’t issued to festival goers when queues of MICA paramedics had been called to the festival to care for overdose victims,” she said.

“The overdoses are deeply concerning and a chilling reminder of the dangers of illicit drugs.”

Questions have been raised over why an emergency drug alert wasn’t issued. Picture: TikTok

The Herald Sun was first made aware of the overdoses through a social media post on Sunday morning.

But when this masthead contacted Victoria Police at 9.12am on Sunday, a spokeswoman said there were no records of overdoses at the event.

Further inquiries were made with Ambulance Victoria, which would only say eight people had been taken to hospital for “medical episodes”.

It was not until 8.25am on Monday – about 36 hours after the crisis – that AV confirmed the patients had overdosed, with regional and clinical operations director Vanessa Gorman saying the revellers suffered from effects of serotonin syndrome.

Nine revellers – aged in their teens and 20s – overdosed on MDMA at the Hardmission Festival held at Flemington Racecourse. Picture: TikTok

On Sunday the Health Department would only say that it was looking into an incident and did not release a statement until Monday afternoon, saying it would review the response to the overdoses.

A spokesman said it was working with health services and the Victorian Poisons Information Centre.

Premier Jacinta Allan said on Monday afternoon it was unclear whether a bad batch of drugs was responsible for the mass overdose, and the government would wait for advice from public health experts.

“We’ll take some time in terms of advice on the circumstances around the cause – we know that there was clearly an overdose – but we do need to take some further advice on the circumstances,” she said.

Several attempts were made by the Herald Sun to contact the organisers of the rave on Sunday, but all went unanswered.

A post on the Hardmission Festival’s social media at midday on Monday thanked revellers for an “unforgettable” event.

“Your incredible energy and the overwhelming positivity transformed the day into a true Hardstyle festival,” it said.

A woman who attended the rave said the heat – which reached 32C – was “overbearing”.

It comes as the state government is being urged to reconsider plans to introduce pill testing across the state.

A bill currently before parliament, introduced by the Greens, is expected to be debated soon after parliament resumes next month.