According to a Reuters report, officials of the state of Miami are now calling for the permanent ban of the infamous Ultra electronic dance music festival in the city. The decision was spurred after a chaotic incident that happened during the festival caused a security guard to sustain brain injuries. She was reportedly trampled by gate-crashers who broke through the event's security fence. According to Miami police spokesman Freddie Cruz, the unnamed 28 year-old security firm employee is still in critical condition as of Monday.
This would not be the first time the annual music fest has been called out for circumstances leading to deaths or life-threatening injuries to people. Last year, a 20 year-old had died after she overdosed on drugs during the festival. The death of a 21-year-old man, who collapsed following his attendance at the Ultra fest on Saturday, is also being probed, said a Miami police spokesman.
Miami mayor Tomas Regalado told the Miami Herald over the weekend that festival organizers of Ultra fest acted irresponsibly when they failed to provide ample security that could have contained the gate-crashers at downtown Bayfront Park. Law enforcement had arrested 84 people and made more than 150 rescue runs following the stampede on the hapless security firm employee.
Miami commissioner Marc Sarnoff also said that not only there was drug use at the event, but downtown condo residents had complained about the event's noise. He said, "About 77,000 people are in a place where there's only one way in and one way out. They have to leave for the weekend to get a night's sleep. Nobody puts anything of this nature in their downtown."
Reuters said electronic music festivals have come under heightened scrutiny following complaints from neighboring residential areas and incidents linked to violence and drugs. In 2010, Insomniac Events' Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) was forced to move their event from the city of Los Angeles to Las Vegas after a 15 year-old attendee overdosed on MDMA or also known as "Molly."
