The Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) ordered the investigation on Sunday after drink spiking reports emerged from Saturday night's concert, which attracted around 60,000 people. 

One woman told Hungarian media that she became seriously unwell around five minutes after drinking only a few sips, eventually needing to lie down and receive medical treatment.

Police say they are investigating suspected illegal drug abuses and are trying to establish exactly what caused the reported illnesses.

Investigators have already questioned witnesses, taken samples from people and seized video recordings from the event. The recordings and other evidence are now being analysed, the police confirmed.

The investigation follows several accounts posted on social media by people who said they or friends had suddenly become very unwell during the concert. 

One widely circulated account came from a young man who said his sister had apparently been given a drug without her knowledge. He said that while waiting at the venue's detoxification centre, he was aware of at least 18 young people being admitted with similar symptoms.

Several other festival-goers subsequently described sudden and unusually severe reactions after consuming only small amounts of alcohol or drinks. 

However, there is currently no official confirmation that anyone was deliberately drugged or that a substance was put into drinks. The reports circulating online are allegations, and establishing whether drugs were involved is precisely what the police investigation is intended to determine.

The case has also raised questions about medical assistance at Sziget Festival. The National Ambulance Service said it was taking complaints about the treatment of people who became unwell seriously and would investigate whether there had been any shortcomings in the care provided.

The Sziget Budapest organisers have also said they are following the case and will cooperate fully with the authorities.

They reported that fewer than 100 people among the more than 60,000 visitors required medical attention at the event, with around 20 cases involving alcohol-related problems.

The organisers said there had been no confirmed drug-related medical cases at the time of their statement.

The concert was a major pre-Sziget event featuring DJ Oti, the retro party persona of Hungarian radio presenter and entertainer Balázs Sebestyén. It took place at the same Óbuda Island venue immediately before the main Sziget Festival, which is currently underway.

The police investigation therefore comes at a particularly sensitive time for Sziget, with thousands of international visitors currently attending the world-famous festival.

For festival-goers, the incident is also a reminder to keep an eye on friends and to seek immediate medical assistance if someone suddenly becomes confused, loses consciousness or experiences an unexplained severe reaction.

Police have not yet announced what, if anything, caused the reported illnesses. The investigation is continuing.

Meanwhile, Sziget Festival welcomes visitors from 112 countries

Visitors have arrived at this year’s Sziget Festival from all six inhabited continents, representing a total of 112 countries, ranging from Iceland to New Zealand and from Canada to Japan, press officer Viktoria Veto said on Friday.

Sziget has been Hungary’s most significant cultural and tourist attraction for decades, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to Budapest from all over the world every year, she said in a statement. According to Google data, in the past month alone, nearly 500,000 people searched for the festival from outside Hungary’s borders, she added.

"Sziget stands out not only for festival-goers' geographical diversity but also for the high proportion of international visitors -- around 50 percent -- making it one of the most international and most-visited events," the statement said.

Most visitors come from Europe, and among them, the number of festival-goers from neighbouring countries has been growing steadily.

Among foreign visitors, the Netherlands is the largest market, but significant numbers of festival-goers also come from the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany and Slovakia.

New Zealand holds the record for the longest distance travelled: despite Budapest and Wellington being some 18,000km apart, hundreds of people undertake such a long journey to be there at Sziget.

From Africa, countries including Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Tunisia and Zimbabwe are represented, from South America, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay are on the list, and from Asia, countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines are represented.

Journalists from more than forty countries have travelled to this year’s festival to report from the venue, with international media presence particularly strong from Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland. Journalists have also arrived from India, China, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, and the list includes countries such as Israel, Algeria, Senegal, Colombia and Peru.

Drinks picture for illustrative purposes only from Pixabay

*********************************************************************************************

You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories via our Facebook page: 

Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoop’s groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary

You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters