KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — The firm that organised last year’s Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) is demanding the release of the toxicology report on the six youths who died at the event, following conflicting remarks issued by the authorities over the cause of the deaths.
While thanking Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar for looking into the investigation, The Livescape Group urged the authorities to disclose the test results as it will provide the public with the answers.
“We think what’s crucial is for the investigation and toxicology reports to be made public as it would provide us with the answers everyone wants,” Livescape Group chief executive officer Muhammad Iqbal Ameer told Malay Mail Online in an email interview.
He also clarified the concert had only begun in the evening as organisers had taken into consideration climate concerns, contradicting the police chief’s claim that the event started in the early morning.
“We would also like to make a correction to Tan Sri’s comments on guests supposedly dancing from 10am — 1am at FMFA 2014.
“Our doors to the festival opened only at 4pm, as the sun was setting, taking into account the Malaysian weather,” Muhammad Iqbal said.
On Sunday, The Star reported University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) forensic pathology department head Prof Dr K. Nadesan as saying that heat stroke had caused the FMFA deaths and that drugs had 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 toxicology report said, according to the newspaper.
But Dr Nadesan claimed the police showed little interest in the findings, although he said he had sent them several detailed reports to correct their statements to the public on the deaths.
The post-mortem reports were not made public, with The Star also reporting yesterday that the family members of one of those who died were not given access to the autopsy results.
After The Star’s report, Livescape expressed surprise at the findings and complained that despite repeated attempts over the past year to obtain a copy of the toxicology report, the authorities continued to give them the runaround.
On Wednesday, IGP Khalid dismissed Dr Nadesan’s findings, and insisted that drugs had contributed to the deaths, noting that the illegal substances had caused dehydration and ultimately, the heatstroke that the six had died from.
The Star reported yesterday city police chief Senior Deputy Commissioner Datuk Tajuddin Md Isa as saying that the police will seek a public inquest of the six fatalities.
