Six dead after drug overdose at KL music fest

SINGAPORE - At least two Singaporean men were reported to be in critical condition on Saturday after a drug overdose incident at a Kuala Lumpur music festival which also claimed the lives of six Malaysians.

Four other Singaporeans were also taken to hospital with the two men. They were attending the Future Music Festival Asia concert, touted as one of South-east Asia's biggest electronic dance music events, at the Bukit Jalil Stadium.

Quoting Kuala Lumpur city police chief Senior Deputy Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh, Bernama reported that the six who died were Malaysian - three of them women. Their names were Kamal Zekry Kamal Basha, 22, Victor Wong E Hern, 26, Sabreena Kamaruddin, 21, M. Suresh, 28, Syazana Sohaime, 23, and Nor Faizza Mohd Wazir, 27.

Nine others who were at last Friday night's event collapsed at around 1.30am after consuming drugs. "The drug is known as 'designer drug' or synthetic drugs, which is called meth," the police chief said, adding that they were being sold at between RM60 and RM100 (S$23 to S$38) a pill.

A Cheras police officer who spoke to The Sunday Times on Saturday said six of the nine who collapsed are Singaporean, and that they were taken to Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).

He added that the police are still investigating and that the final tally of casualties had not yet been determined. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he said he was not authorised to release the information to the public.

UMMC could not be reached for comment, and Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not verify information on the Singaporeans involved on Saturday.

The Festival's organisers did not respond to queries by press-time. In a Facebook post on Saturday, they announced the cancellation of the event's third day on Saturday in the interest of public safety and in the light of ongoing investigations.

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