Tragedy has struck at Strawberry Fields, with a man dying following a suspected drug overdose at the three-day EDM festival in the NSW town of Tocumwal.
As SMH reports, a 24-year-old Victorian man was brought to the medical tent around 12:45am this morning after ingesting a cocktail of cocaine, MDMA and GHB.
He suffered a cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead shortly after 2am.
Police are investigating and will now prep a report for the coroner.
A spokesperson for the festival said in a statement: “We would like to send our sincere condolences to his family and friends during this distressing and terribly sad time.
“We have implemented every single harm minimisation strategy that is legally available to us, run in-depth education campaigns on the dangers of drug use, and worked closely with all stakeholders to ensure we are in the best possible position to prevent and manage an incident like this.”
Meanwhile, NSW Police Superintendent Jason Weinstein said the death was “very sad and very heartbreaking for the family”, while adding it was a reminder at the start of the summer festival season that drugs are “dangerous items”.
“All it takes is one pill to kill … if anyone is thinking of consuming an illegal substance it’s really like playing Russian roulette, you’re really loading a bullet into a gun and firing.”
The tragedy comes on the heels of a passionate public debate around pill-testing, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian refusing to allow the harm minimisation measure despite the state Coroner formally recommending it be implemented to prevent drug harm following a lengthy and in-depth inquest into fatal overdoses at music festivals.
