Tragedy has struck a Victorian family after a 34-year-old man died over the weekend at Rainbow Serpent festival in Victoria.
According to The Age, Daniel Buccianti from Melbourne, rang his mother and spoke to her on the phone from the festival after suffering adverse effects from the illicit drug acid that he had ingested.
Daniel’s mum Adriana recounted the phone call, the last time she spoke to her son, saying he rang frantically saying “mum I have taken some very bad acid and everything is very odd here”.
“I said Daniel don’t worry, you need to get yourself to St John Hospital really quickly,” continued Adriana. Daniel asked his mother to come and pick him up but only 40-minutes later he called again and told her he was fine.
But Daniel wasn’t fine, and sometime after the second phone call with his mum he passed away. Adriana never heard from her son again and was informed by police of his death after they knocked on her door on Sunday morning.
A spokesperson from Ambulance Victoria told The Age that the man was already dead when emergency crew arrived on the scene and Victoria Police said they do not believe his death was suspicious.
But Daniel’s mother is furious and holds the event organisers and police responsible for not finding the drugs on her son before he entered the festival. “Drugs took my son,” Ms Buccianti said. “He rang here that Saturday night at 6.15pm … and said Mum I have taken some very bad acid.”
“They [the organisers] should be shut down,” she continued. “If the police didn’t find any drugs at the festival then they were not looking hard enough. My life has changed forever. There’s never going to be another birthday, or Christmas, or wedding or grandchildren.”
But Victoria Police Acting Senior Sergeant Jo Stafford has defended the role of police adding that the the festival was a privately run event and organisers were responsible for providing their own security.
“Victoria Police ensures there is a police presence at the festival to respond in the event that an incident occurs,” he said. “This includes active patrols within the festival grounds and breath testing and traffic enforcement outside the event.”
Rainbow Serpent promoters posted a statement on the festival’s official Facebook wall this afternoon saying “Sadly we need to acknowledge that a young man passed away at Rainbow this year. As yet the cause of death has not been confirmed and we have cooperated fully with police and the coroner and await their findings.”
“Everyone at Rainbow is saddened by this tragedy and we ask that you please refrain from jumping to conclusions or making unnecessary comments. Naturally our heartfelt condolences go out to his grieving family and friends. :(“
