Man dies at Sydney dance festival, more hospitalised

Police have begun a coronial investigation into the death of 26-year-old Nigel Pauljevic, who was found unconscious during the Defqon.1 music festival on Saturday.

Mr Pauljevic was found unconscious in a tent at the festival, which was held at the Sydney worldwide Regatta Centre, just after 11pm on Saturday, police said.

The man’s friends gave him first aid until paramedics arrived and he was taken to Nepean hospital where he died.

Throughout the day-long festival, nine people were also taken to Nepean Hospital by NSW ambulance.

The festival organiser, Q-dance Australia, said in a statement it was fully supporting the police investigation into the Albury man’s death.

Police arrested 60 people at the festival: 46 arrests were for drug offences, four of which were for drug supply, with two people allegedly caught with 46 pills, believed to be MDMA.

“If he did take drugs, they’re angry because a life is wasted”.

The news follows another death at the same event in 2013, where a man passed away after taking three pills.

“Festivals and dance parties aren’t the problem, it’s people making poor adult decisions that are the problem”, Detective Inspector Grant Healey told the ABC. “If you take drugs, it could happen to anyone”, he said.

The director of the emergency department at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Gordian Fulde, encounters this issue all too regularly – with ecstasy second only to alcohol when it comes to drugs-related admissions.

The family described Mr Pauljevic as a much-loved brother and son.

In a statement released on Monday, his family said: “He was a sensitive soul, so caring and loving; always looking out for others, putting their needs before his own”.

“At present, our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends”, the spokesperson said of the Albury man’s death. Everyone on our team is deeply shocked and affected by this tragic event.

He said drug checking should be done by health professionals who could educate festival-goers while they waited for the test. If a particular batch was found to be of concern, the news could be flashed onto screens around the stage to warn partygoers.