Homicide investigators are probing a "suspicious death" at a campground of the Pemberton Music Festival on Friday night.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) released few details other than to say it was early in the investigation at the scene 30 kilometres northeast of Whistler.
Campers told The Province that they saw medical staff helping a man under a large tent in the early evening.
Paula Baker, an online producer for Global News, tweeted that someone badly injured in a washroom had died.
Various photos posted on Twitter show yellow crime tape around some porta-potties located close to several tents. Campers whose tents were inside the barricaded area were not allowed back to get their belongings.
A short statement from festival organizers, HUKA Entertainment, confirmed that "an incident has occurred in one of the festival campgrounds." It said it was working with Pemberton Fire Rescue to help campers who have to be relocated during the police investigation.
There was no mention of the incident on the festival's official Twitter account as it continued to live tweet the uninterrupted performance of Friday night headliners' Nine Inch Nails.
This weekend's Pemberton Music Festival was resurrected after a lengthy hiatus. The first event in 2008 was poorly organized when 40,000 people squeezed into a town of 2,400 people. Visitors trampled private property and even set up tents in people's front yards without permission, while porta-potties were putrid.
A new promoter took over this year's concert and pumped $18 million worth of infrastructure into the region, hoping to avoid the traffic and other organizational problems of the past.
This year's festival features nearly 100 bands, with about 25,000 people attending. Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5 take the stage on Saturday, while Outkast and Frank Ocean are slated to perform on Sunday.
With files from The Canadian Press
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The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) released few details other than to say it was early in the investigation at the scene 30 kilometres northeast of Whistler.
Campers told The Province that they saw medical staff helping a man under a large tent in the early evening.
Paula Baker, an online producer for Global News, tweeted that someone badly injured in a washroom had died.
Person badly injured in washroom at #pemberton music festival dies. Police have campgrounds and washrooms roped off. More to come.
— Paula Baker (@PBeeBaker) July 19, 2014Various photos posted on Twitter show yellow crime tape around some porta-potties located close to several tents. Campers whose tents were inside the barricaded area were not allowed back to get their belongings.
Something has happened at the #pemberton music festival. #vancouver pic.twitter.com/M14MLnIi1A
— Reut Amit (@reutamit) July 19, 2014Witnesses say medical staff attended to a man under this tent in the NW campground at #pembertonfestival. pic.twitter.com/WRSMWQmYp0
— Dean Broughton (@DeanVanSun) July 19, 2014A short statement from festival organizers, HUKA Entertainment, confirmed that "an incident has occurred in one of the festival campgrounds." It said it was working with Pemberton Fire Rescue to help campers who have to be relocated during the police investigation.
There was no mention of the incident on the festival's official Twitter account as it continued to live tweet the uninterrupted performance of Friday night headliners' Nine Inch Nails.
.@Pemberton_Fest hasn't commented if there has been an arrest or not yet at the festival, most of the crowd is apparently unaware of death
— Simon Druker (@Simon_Druker) July 19, 2014Oh boy @Pemberton_Fest has some terrible PR. Maybe don't retweet that a band is "killin it" with a murder investigation going on.
— Alicia Hope-Ross (@poor_choices) July 19, 2014This weekend's Pemberton Music Festival was resurrected after a lengthy hiatus. The first event in 2008 was poorly organized when 40,000 people squeezed into a town of 2,400 people. Visitors trampled private property and even set up tents in people's front yards without permission, while porta-potties were putrid.
A new promoter took over this year's concert and pumped $18 million worth of infrastructure into the region, hoping to avoid the traffic and other organizational problems of the past.
This year's festival features nearly 100 bands, with about 25,000 people attending. Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5 take the stage on Saturday, while Outkast and Frank Ocean are slated to perform on Sunday.
With files from The Canadian Press
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