One moment he was partying with his friends; the next, he was walking towards the toilets. After that, his next memory was of lying on a bed with a doctor standing beside him, a number marked on his stomach. This was not the opening scene of a horror film but a real-life ordeal – and it happened the day before yesterday at a Budapest on the Hajógyári Island, the site of the Sziget Festival. No one yet knows exactly what happened: were the young people drugged, or was something else behind the incidents?
Many fell ill at Budapest concert
The concert did not form part of the Sziget Festival, although it was held on the festival’s main stage, where the illnesses occurred.
Sziget organisers issued a statement on Sunday condemning what had happened, but stressed that they had nothing to do with the DJ OTI – Balázs Sebestyén – concert, which was not included in the Sziget Festival programme. The concert was nevertheless held on Sziget’s main stage, and at one of the high points of the party Balázs flew in front of a Sziget logo, leading many people to associate the two events.
Both Sziget and Balázs expressed their regret and stressed the importance of human life. Károly Gerendai, Sziget’s lead organiser, added that he and his colleagues would try to investigate exactly what had happened more thoroughly. He said he knew of 20 cases among the 100 people who had received medical attention, while tens of thousands had attended the event.
Hours missing from his life
An affected man told Index on Tuesday how he had experienced the events. The man, who is in his thirties, said he had not drunk much alcohol, yet had ended up in a condition for which he still has little explanation: three or four hours had disappeared completely from his memory.
One moment he was partying with his friends; then he set off for the toilets and remembers nothing after that. His next memory was of lying in a room with a doctor standing beside him. He does not know how he got there, nor who helped him reach the medical facility. He assumes that, when he regained consciousness, someone may have explained what had happened to him, but none of that information remained with him.
One of the most shocking details only became clear to the man later. Once he had recovered further, he noticed that a huge number had been written on his stomach in marker pen. His pockets had been emptied, and his phone and identity documents were returned to him in a transparent plastic bag.
Professional care, followed by illness
According to Index, the number written on the skin is an identification method used at mass events. If someone is unconscious or unable to communicate, the number is used to link the patient to their medical records and to the belongings found on them.
Our previous article concerning the issue – Young women collapse one after another at Budapest concert: police investigate as victims recount same story
The man came round in the detoxification unit operating at Sziget. This is the observation area where people who are severely intoxicated or under the influence of psychoactive substances are kept under medical supervision until their condition stabilises. The festival has a fully equipped medical centre, including a triage unit, internal medicine and surgical treatment rooms, a resuscitation unit, an inpatient area and a detoxification unit, supported by an emergency team of around 50 people.
But the ordeal did not end with the night. The man said he felt extremely unwell throughout Sunday, adding that he had never felt so ill in his life.
Following the incident, the Budapest Police Headquarters launched an investigation on suspicion of drug possession and questioned witnesses. However, no toxicology results have yet been made public to prove that the man or anyone else was given a psychoactive substance without their consent. Many people suspect GHB – commonly known in Hungary as “gina” – but the substance leaves the body quickly, although it can be detected in hair at considerable expense.
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