7 dead after taking drugs at Vietnam music festival

Hanoi: Seven Vietnamese have died and five are in a coma after taking drugs at an electronic dance music festival in Hanoi late Sunday, officials said, as authorities scrambled to trace the

substance.

The victims, all se, tested positive for an unspecified drug prompting officials to ban all EDM festivals in the capital in the wake of the fatal incident, which has shocked the conservative city.

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

Monday.

Officials said the dead were all in their 20s, while the five people in a coma are between 18 and 30 years old.

The sick are being treated in intensive care at two Hanoi hospitals.

If the deaths are confirmed as drug-related it could be one of the worst mass deaths at a music festival linked to narcotics in recent memory anywhere in the world.

Sunday night's "Trip To The Moon" festival was hosted by Vietnam Electronic Weekend in Hanoi's upscale West Lake, a neighbourhood popular among expats, teachers and youth for its nightlife and club scene. Agencies