LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — An electronic music festival at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum left 1 15-year-old girl dead from an apparent drug overdose and over 200 injured.
The two-day Electric Daisy Carnival, returning for its 14th year, attracted upwards of 180,000 people to the event, which featured mostly DJ performances by artists including Basement Jaxx, will.i.am, Deadmau5, Dirty South and Donald Glaude.
15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez was transported to a hospital, where she subsequently died, after collapsing at the event due to a suspected MDMA (ecstasy) overdose, the Los Angeles Times reported. Another individual attending the event was admitted to the intensive care unit for an apparent drug overdose as well.
Other injuries were reported from a group of would-be attendees, who lacking tickets, attempted to rush the security barricades at the venue.
The event's promoters, Insomniac Events, did not respond to requests from the press for comment.
The death of Rodriguez, and a similar situation at a New Year's Eve event at the Coliseum where 18 people were treated for drug overdoses, has led to some Los Angeles physicians to call for publicly owned facilities to stop hosting 'rave' like events.
"I think it's tragic when a 15-year-old girl dies in this way as a result of a public policy that put her at risk," Dr. Brian Johnston, the emergency room medical director at White Memorial Medical Center, told the Los Angeles Times. "Can you imagine explaining that to her parents?"
By contrast, this year's Bonnaroo saw one death and over a hundred concert-goers who required medical attention, though mostly for heat related injuries. Police also made approximately 120 drug-related arrests before and during the event as well as almost 150 citations for under-aged drinking.
Video of the crowd attempting to 'rush' the barrier.
– CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
