Dutch festivalgoer dies after taking ‘Philipp Plein’ pills at Extrema Outdoor

The unnamed Dutch male (54) fell unwell on Friday whilst attending Extrema Outdoor Festival in Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium. Following resuscitation by medical staff on the festival site on Friday, he was taken to a Genk hospital – where he sadly died later that evening.

It has been alleged that he had taken pills branded with the logo of famed fashion designer Philipp Plein. A man in his twenties was also arrested on Friday for allegedly selling drugs, but it is unclear if he had sold the Philipp Plein pills in question.

Parket Limberg, the local public prosecutor, has warned of the pills after they were found on the now-deceased festivalgoer. Press Magistrate, Pieter Strauve, said: “We immediately had the pills analyzed in the lab of toxicologist Jan Tytgat of KU Leuven. It turns out that they contain an extremely high dose of MDMA. Almost twice as much as normal.”

“We also do not yet know whether the ecstasy pills are related to the death of the man in question. Further investigation has yet to determine that.”

“But because it concerns potentially deadly ecstasy pills, we definitely want to warn against them.”

Professor Tytgat also found the tablets to contain two types of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), also known as so-called “designer drugs” or “research chemicals”, namely Methylone and 3-MMC.

Methylone belongs to phenethylamines, amphetamines and cathinones and is chemically very similar to MDMA. The effect of 3-MMC is the equivalent of combining MDMA and cocaine.

Extrema Outdoor has also warned of the pills via social media: