NYC music fest canceled after 2 drug-linked deaths

Swedish DJ, remixer and record producer Avicii poses for a portrait, on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 in New York. AP

NEW YORK – The last day of a New York City dance music festival featuring high-profile acts including Avicii, David Guetta and Diplo was canceled Sunday after the deaths of two attendees and the hospitalizations of several others, apparently linked to drugs.

The city said it recommended that the Electric Zoo festival end early after the deaths and illnesses during the first two days of performances on Friday and Saturday. The festival took place on Randall’s Island in the East River.

“The Electric Zoo organizers have worked with city officials to reduce health risks at this event, but in view of these occurrences, the safest course is to cancel the remaining day of the event,” the city said.

Police identified those who died as Jeffrey Russ, 23, of Rochester, New York, and Olivia Rotondo, 20, of Providence, Rhode Island.

Russ was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital around 3:20 a.m. Saturday, police said. He had been brought to the hospital from the festival.

Rotondo was taken to Metropolitan Hospital later Saturday, around 8:45 p.m., and was pronounced dead shortly afterward, police said.

The city said the deaths appear to have been linked to drugs, specifically MDMA, or ecstasy. A spokeswoman for the city medical examiner said autopsy results were inconclusive and further toxicology and tissue testing is needed.

The event’s founders, Made Event, expressed condolences on its website to the families of those who died.

“Because there is nothing more important to us than our patrons, we have decided in consultation with the New York City Parks Department that there will be no show today,” the statement said.

The festival has been held over the Labor Day holiday weekend since 2009. It draws sizable crowds to hear artists performing on multiple stages.