Two dead after attending Sydney music festival

Two men are dead and 10 other people have been taken to hospital after attending Sydney music festivals held amid the weekend’s high temperatures.

NSW Health confirmed the two men died after leaving the Knockout Outdoor festival at the Sydney Showground in Olympic Park on Saturday.

NSW Police said they were waiting for autopsy reports amid speculation the men died after taking illicit drugs.

Paramedics tried to revive a 26-year-old man outside the venue on Sydney Olympic Boulevard before he was taken to Concord Hospital, where he was declared dead.

The other man, aged 21, was treated by paramedics at a Sydney CBD hotel before being transferred to hospital, where he died.

NSW Police are investigating the cause of both deaths and will prepare a report for the NSW Coroner, but were unable to confirm if the men had consumed drugs.

NSW Police Detective Superintendent, Simon Glasser told reporters this morning “it’s not specifically being treated as a suspected drug overdose.

“We look at all avenues. Anything could have happened.”

However, Detective Superintendent Glasser said it showed people can die at music festivals and drugs can have “horrible consequences”, especially when mixed with heat after Sydney sweltered through unseasonably warm conditions on Saturday.”

He added “these events (are) for people to go and enjoy some music and have a lot of fun with mates, so it’s tragic that people have lost their lives.”

Last week NSW Health issued an urgent warning about high-dose ecstasy tablets, which NSW Health Minister, Ryan Park, said were “particularly harmful”.

However, NSW Premier, Chris Minns, also last week pointed out that previous music festival deaths had been linked to extreme heat and a lack of hydration.

Nine other people were taken to hospital from Knockout Outdoor and one from the Listen Out music festival at Centennial Park.

A NSW Health spokesperson advised “a range of harm reduction initiatives were in place at these festivals, including support and health promotion workers, health messaging, free water, chill-out spaces and well-equipped medical services.”

A crowd of about 27,500 packed into Giants Stadium and its surrounds for Knockout Outdoor and another 53,000 people flocked to Listen Out, in what is considered the start of the festival season.

The Australian Festival Association (AFA) said on Sunday it was “saddened” to hear of the two deaths.

In a statement it advised “we send our sincere condolences to the friends and family of them both.”

Drug Arrests
At Listen Out, 85 festivalgoers were allegedly caught with illegal drugs and 37 of them were issued court attendance notices.

Another eight attendees were charged with supplying a prohibited drug, two were arrested for assaulting police, one for wilful and obscene exposure and another for breaching bail.

27 others at Knockout Outdoor were charged with illegal drug possession and another four with supplying a prohibited drug.

Man in serious condition after allegedly being set alight at the Deni Ute Muster
A man is in a serious condition after allegedly being set alight at the annual Deni Ute Muster near Deniliquin in southern NSW.

NSW Police are calling for information from the public after emergency services were called to a campsite area at the event following after reports a man had caught fire at about 6.40pm on Saturday.

A 22-year-old man was found with significant facial burns after he was reportedly set on fire by another man who was trying to ignite an aerosol nearby.

He was treated by paramedics before being airlifted to hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.

NSW police have released images of a man they want to question. He was described as being aged in his early 20s, of Caucasian appearance, about 170cm tall with brown hair cut in a mullet.

He was wearing a green shirt, blue shorts with a yellow stripe, a red and black cap and no shoes.

Image: The Knockout Outdoor festival. Credit: Facebook.