One dead after spate of festival overdoses

A Sydney man has died and at least twelve others were hospitalised following a series of suspected drug overdoses at a popular Sydney music festival.

Kieran Ngo.

A Sydney man has died and at least 12 others have been admitted to hospital, in what NSW police have described as one of the worst drug overdose incidents in the state’s recent history.

Kieran Ngo, who attended Transmission Festival, died hours after admitting himself to Bankstown Hospital early on Sunday morning, saying he felt ill after the popular event at Sydney Showground.

The 26-year-old, who worked as a senior associate at the Commonwealth Bank, was treated for a suspected overdose at the hospital, but died hours after admission as his condition deteriorated.

Bankstown police were called to the hospital on Sunday at 3am to investigate the circumstances of Mr Ngo’s death.

Six men, aged 19 to 33, have since been charged by police after they were found to be in possession of hundreds of MDMA tablets.

On Sunday, a 23-year-old Oran Park man appeared before a Parramatta court charged with the supply of prohibited drugs after he was allegedly found in possession of more than 250 MDMA tablets.

A 21-year-old Fairfield West man was also charged over possession of MDMA tablets and is due to face court later this week. Police said the other four men were issued with court attendance notices for the supply of prohibited drugs and are due to appear at court at a later date.

On Monday, NSW Police said they were investigating whether Mr Ngo’s death was linked to the seizure of more than 400 MDMA tablets that were allegedly found on festival-goers. But they would not comment on the condition of the other festival-goers who were admitted to hospital with suspected MDMA overdoses.

The electronic music festival was attended by 18,000 people, with temperatures rising to 36C inside the Olympic Park venue.

Police said more than 130 festival-goers were treated at the venue for issues related to “drug use and heat exhaustion”.

A Commonwealth Bank spokesman confirmed the identity of Mr Ngo to The Australian on Monday and expressed the organisation’s condolences to his family.

“We are shocked and saddened by the news of the death of our valued staff member, Kieran,” a spokesman said.

“He was a well-liked member of our team and we pass on our condolences to his family and friends.”