What caused the death at Rainbow Serpent 2017?
As was reported in the media this past week, a festival-goer died at Rainbow Serpent 2017 in Australia.
The twenty two year old partygoer had allegedly drunk poppers (amyl nitrite) and was unable to be saved. For some or other reason this guy drank a liquid which is usually reserved for sniffing to induce a temporary high or is used to clean leather.
Reportedly, poppers aren’t too dangerous in small amounts. However if larger amounts are consumed it can prove to be deadly… and it should certainly not be ingested orally.
“If people do something like drink a lot of it, it can have a really toxic effect. It means that the oxygen that’s in your blood has a hard time getting into the tissue, so people don’t get enough oxygen,” said Nadine Ezard, Clinical Director at St Vincent’s Hospital Alcohol and Drug Service.
Australian Superintendent, Andrew Allen said:
“We believe that organised criminals are infiltrating this event to prey on young people and as a consequence we’ve seen the death of a 22-year-old man.”
The director of Rainbow Serpent 2017 released the following statement on Sunday…
“First and foremost, we want to forward our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. The thoughts of all our staff and volunteers are with them during this extremely difficult time.
“Rainbow Serpent considers the safety of patrons a priority and we will continue to cooperate with authorities to determine exactly what happened in this situation. We are an extremely close knit community and the effects of this tragedy will be felt right throughout our staff, volunteers and patrons for a long time to come.”
Rainbow Serpent 2017 was only the second time a person has ever died at the festival in its history. The event celebrated its twenty year anniversary with over fifteen thousand people.
The Rainbow Serpent 2017 organisers requested for pill-testing to be allowed before the festival. This was in response to three people dying in Melbourne after they took what they believed to be MDMA.
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