A man who was taken to hospital after falling ill at Download Festival has died, it has been confirmed. Emergency services were called in after he became unwell at around 9pm on Saturday evening at the famous rock festival in the east Midlands.
It just happened after a performance by Deftones and just moments before legendary heavy mental band Iron Maiden took to the stage at the festival, held in Castle Donington in Leicestershire.
Paramedics attended to him while the headline show got underway before he was taken away and rushed to hospital. Leicestershire Police have now confirmed he later died and that they are now investigating the circumstances.
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“We can confirm the death of a man who had been attending the Download Festival in Castle Donington at the weekend," the force told Leicestershire Live.
"The man became unwell at the festival on Saturday evening (June 11) and was taken to the Derby Royal Infirmary where he sadly died. "The death is currently being treated as unexplained and enquiries remain ongoing."
The man has not been named and no further details about him, including his age, have been disclosed. Eyewitnesses said the distressing incident unfolded as thousands of music fans began to rock out with Iron Maiden.
“It happened just before Iron Maiden came on and noticed people were shouting and then paramedics were going back and forth to help whoever it was,” one eyewitness said.
“It was during the first song that they were taken away. I don’t think many people realised what was happening at first.”
The man’s death came hours after the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance were dispatched to the festival to reports of a medical emergency involving another festival-goer. Reports suggest this medical incident was on the festival campsites.
“We received a call at 12.49pm on Saturday 11 June to Castle Donington, Leicestershire, to assist with a medical emergency,” said an EMAS spokesman. "The air ambulance was in attendance and assisted medical teams on site."
No further details on this incident are known, with the person’s condition also unknown.
