Several drug overdoses at Vietnam's Trip to the Moon festival

  • 18/09/2018
It comes after two people died at a Sydney music festival on Saturday.
It comes after two people died at a Sydney music festival on Saturday. Photo credit: Getty

Seven people have died at a music festival in Vietnam's capital city after consuming drugs, according to local media reports. 

All of those who died at the concert in Hanoi were in their twenties while five other concert-goers aged 18-30 are in a coma in intensive care, state-run newspaper Capital Police reports. 

Sunday night's Trip to the Moon event where the victims lost their lives was hosted by the Vietnam Electronic Weekend festival in Hanoi's upscale West Lake, an area popular among expats and youth for its nightlife, Pakistani newspaper The News reports

The victims, all Vietnamese, tested positive for an unspecified drug, which has prompted calls by officials in Vietnam's capital to ban all electronic dance music festivals. 

"Police investigators are trying to figure out what type of drug that was," deputy director of Hanoi police Nguyen Van Vien told reporters on Monday.

Vietnam's southern cosmopolitan hub Ho Chi Minh City is better-known for hosting the country's party scene, but electronic music is said to have gained more popularity in Hanoi, despite the fact bars and clubs are supposed to close at midnight. 

The deaths in Vietnam come after a 23-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman died in Sydney, Australia on Saturday at Defqon.1 dance music festival. Two other people were rushed to hospital under similar circumstances. 

Emergency services responded to multiple reports of suspected drug overdoses, and it's understood 13 people were for treated for drug-related issues, while as many as 700 people sought assistance from medical staff on-site.

Ten people were charged with drug supply offences following the festival, with three due to appear in court on Sunday.

A range of illicit drugs were seized including MDMA, cocaine and ecstasy.

Newshub.