One Dead At Electric Daisy

A 19-year-old man died after attending an electronic music festival in Dallas and more than two dozen people were treated at hospitals for drug, alcohol and heat-related problems, Dallas officials said.

Fire officials said Andrew Graf of Argyle died late Saturday night at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. His cause of death was pending toxicology results, which will take several weeks, according to the Dallas Medical Examiner’s Office.

Authorities described a chaotic scene Saturday night after the Electric Daisy Carnival at Fair Park, just east of downtown. Calls for paramedics started about 9 p.m. and lasted into the early morning.

“At one time there were at least 10 different rescue units responding to the event at once,” Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans told The Dallas Morning News. “The chaos finally came to a rapid stop when someone pulled a fire alarm around 1:30 a.m. and sent those that remained scattering.”

Evans said fire officials took about 30 people to hospitals after the event, which he described as a rave for young people.

Event organizers estimated attendance at about 23,600 people and said all festival goers underwent “thorough and extensive pat-downs,” and bag and pocket searches. In an email, Insomniac Events spokeswoman Erika Raney said more than 200 security staffers were on site, along with 35 members from the Dallas Police Department.

Raney said Evans’ statement contained inaccuracies, but she wasn’t specific. “When the festival ended, attendees did indeed exit the buildings and property in an orderly and respectful fashion,” Raney wrote.

Frank Librio, a spokesman for the city of Dallas, said Sunday that city officials were gathering information on what happened at Fair Park.

“This event was conducted with all of the proper procedures, approvals and safety measures in place including pre-event meeting to address security and police staffing levels,” he said in a statement.

No outside beverages were permitted other than sealed water bottles, Librio said. He also noted that the event was held last year at Fair Park and there were no “similar incidents.”

A 15-year-old girl who collapsed during the event in Los Angeles last year died of complications of the drug ecstasy. More than 226 people needed emergency medical treatment at the event, where there were 114 arrests for misconduct, drug possession and other charges.

The carnival is next set to go to Las Vegas, where it was relocated from Los Angeles. The three-day festival is set to begin Friday.