Three Deaths Surround RockNess Festival
A 19-year-old man collapsed at Scotland’s RockNess Festival on Saturday night and died in the hospital early Sunday morning, the BBC reports. Two others were hospitalized on Sunday morning, and police say that drugs were likely involved in the three incidents.
According to the BBC, the police are making inquiries into a stimulant known as Benzo Fury. “If anyone has the tablets described or any other drug, whether controlled or a ‘legal high,’ in their possession, they are advised not to take them and to hand these in,” the officer in charge of the event said.
The three-day festival, which draws an audience of about 35,000 to the banks of Loch Ness, included Deadmau5 and Mumford & Sons on this year’s bill. In order to minimize the risk of drug-related trouble, event organizers and police are employing searches, drug-sniffing dogs and amnesty bins where people can dispose of controlled substances without fearing prosecution.
“What should be very clear from this information is that legal high does not mean safe, and customers should not go anywhere near these dangerous substances,” said Jim King, the festival’s organizer. “Festivalgoers should heed the advice given to them by the health professionals and the police, and stay safe by avoiding drugs of any kind.”
RockNess had already got off to a tragic start when a bus carrying concertgoers crashed into a van on Friday. The two van passengers were killed and 14 bus passengers were hospitalized.