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Two EDC Attendees Died In Las Vegas
A crowd at EDC (Photos by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Two men who attended the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas over the weekend have died.
Anthony Anaya, 25, who came from Everett, Washington to attend EDC, was found dead at the Vdara resort on the Las Vegas Strip on Saturday evening, Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy told the Associated Press. However, it's not clear if his death is linked to the festival.
Another attendee, 24-year-old Montgomery Tsang of San Leandro, California, collapsed at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the rave was held on Saturday morning. He died at the hospital.
Murphy said that they are running blood toxicology tests to determine what caused the death of the two attendees.
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Insomniac, the L.A. promoters for EDC issued the following statement after hearing of Tsang's death:
Today we learned some very tragic news, that after attending the festival a guest of the show has passed away. We are deeply saddened by this news, and hope that everyone will join us in keeping his family and friends in their thoughts during this very difficult time. Dance music fans pride themselves in being part of a loving community and, as we get ready to start the second night of the show, we ask everyone to help us keep this event safe. Look after your group of friends, utilize the buddy system, and if you see something, say something. No one should ever hesitate to ask any of our medical staff, public safety personnel or Insomniac staff for help, or call 911 in case of an emergency. One death is one too many, and we all must do our part to keep each other safe, healthy and happy, tonight and every night.
OC Weekly reported that this is the eighth EDC-related death since 2010, if you count the other fests that were held in Los Angeles and Dallas. The fest heads moved EDC from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2011 after a 15-year-old girl died from an ecstasy overdose at the Coliseum in 2010.
Electronic music festivals have been under scrutiny over drug-related deaths over the years. Two people who attended Electric Zoo in New York in 2013 both died from a MDMA overdose.
Over the three-day EDC festival this year, about 400,000 folks attended and nearly 800 were treated for medical issues, police told the AP.
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