Defqon.1 music festival death

Defqon.1 Festival was founded in 2003 by festival organizer Q-Dance and is held annually in the Netherlands and Australia. 

Even though there were 100 police with sniffer dogs and lots of security who searched every single person's gear before they walked through the gates at Defqon 1 in Sydney last weekend, one man is dead and 20 others were rushed to hospital.

An hour after the gates opened late on Saturday morning, a 23 year old man who had travelled from Melbourne to attend the event, started fitting.  He was rushed to Nepean Hospital in a critical condition and after many episodes of cardiac arrest, was pronounced dead.

As news of his death spread across Facebook, someone wrote "people, this is why you pace yourself."

There are lots of rumours - it was a batch of green pills with horses heads stamped on them, but the general consensus is that it was PMA - pink ecstasy - the same thing that killed several people at dance concerts in the UK.  It's sold as ecstasy but has a much stronger effect and takes longer to kick in.  Police warn that some teens think it's not working, so they take some more.

PMA

Police said they won't know what it was until post-mortem and toxicology results come in.  Inspector Grant Healey said they found magic mushrooms, cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy and GHB - an odourless, colourless, saltwater-like liquid usually sold in small, 30 ml clear plastic bottles.

Adam Watson

Adam Watson 22, who attended the concert wasn't surprised about the death.  "It doesn't surprise me at all, people were out of control in there" he said.  "The festival gets worse every year - I put it down to the amount it costs to drink (alcohol) inside of festivals, I think that's a massive factor for some people."

A police spokesman said something really sad today. "Drug manufacturers overseas know that Australia loves its drugs." And just like everything else, they cost more here than any other country in the world.