The total number of tourist deaths at Goa’s Sunburn Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Festival has reached up to three in the last three days. All the three deaths were reportedly happened due to the uneasiness resulting in collapsing of the victims at the event.
According to police, the latest death is of Sandip Kotta, a visitor from Bengaluru, who complained of uneasiness at the festival venue at Vagator beach in North Goa district on Sunday night.
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“An ambulance was called at the venue and he was rushed to a state-run hospital in Mapusa town where he died minutes after admission,” a police officer said. The man’s age is still not known, he added.
Two tourists from Andhra Pradesh on Friday collapsed after feeling uneasy while standing outside the festival venue. They were taken to the hospital where doctors declared them dead, police said.
Speaking on the deaths in the state which attracts a massive crowd during New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve, BJP leader in the state, Rajendra Arlekar on Monday said, “Do we really need events like Sunburn to promote tourism? Can we not redefine our priorities in this sector?”
The three-day Sunburn festival concluded on Sunday with lakhs of music lovers attending it.
On Sunday, Congress claimed drug overdose could be the reason for the death of two tourists from Andhra Pradesh at the Sunburn festival. It also indicated the sale of narcotics at the venue.
Congress also demanded that permission for the festival be revoked and an inquiry to be conducted.
Contrary to this, the state police said no case of drug use or sale has been detected at the festival venue.