KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — Police insisted today that the six youths who collapsed during last year’s Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) event in Bukit Jalil had died because of drugs, dismissing findings in a toxicology report that suggested that it was heat stroke that killed them.
Asked to comment today, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar was quoted in The Malaysian Insider as saying that there was no need to dispute the matter as drugs had undoubtedly been used during the incident.
“I don’t think I need to comment further. During the incident, we found that drugs were used.
“If the clinical findings say (something else), we accept whatever the finding.
“But the fact still remains that it is caused by drugs,” the news portal quoted Khalid as telling a press conference in Bukit Aman.
English daily The Star reported yesterday that although the public was led to believe that drugs had been the cause of the FMFA deaths, the toxicology report issued two months after the incident revealed something else.
According to the newspaper, it was heat stroke that caused the deaths, while drugs played a negligible role. Of the 16 party-goers who were taken to the hospital that day, two had no traces of any illegal substances, the report said.
The report also quoted University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) forensic pathology department head Prof Dr K. Nadesan as saying the police showed little interest in the findings, although he sent them several detailed reports to correct their statements to the public on the deaths.
“Unfortunately, they made statements without proper scientific reasons, which is not the right way,” he was quoted saying.
Responding to the findings later, FMFA organiser The Livescape Group expressed surprise and demanded that the police come clean on the issue.
The event planning company accused the authorities of giving them the runaround in their request for the official investigation report on the incident, despite numerous attempts over the past year to seek answers.
“Our requests for the toxicology report to the police and to the hospitals involved following FMFA 2014 were both turned down with both parties citing an ‘ongoing police investigation’.
“All information that we have garnered with regards to the investigation has been communicated to us only through media reports,” Livescape said.
“We are not thinking about the money but what we are seeking for are answers and the truth. It is only fair that we allow the relevant authorities to provide their feedback,” it added.
Source: www.themalaymailonline.com
