NBI double-checking tests on concert victims

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is conducting confirmatory toxicology tests on the bodies of two of the persons who died following a 10-hour concert on May 21, an official said yesterday.

“We really have to take time to make sure that results of the toxicology report are 100-percent accurate,” Dr. Romel Papa of the NBI’s forensic investigation service said.

He said the NBI’s toxicology section is confirming the presence of certain substances in the bodies of Bianca Fontejon, 18, and Lance Garcia, 32.

The NBI was expected to release the results of the toxicology testing on Tuesday.

Dr. Wilfredo Tierra, assistant chief of the NBI’s medico-legal division, previously said Fontejon and Garcia suffered from a “massive heart attack.”

Papa confirmed they indeed died of “acute myocardial infarction,” adding that the heart attack suffered by Fontejon was “so severe and massive,” while Garcia’s lungs were filled with fluid.

Fontejon and Garcia were among the five people who died following the Closeup Forever Summer concert at the Mall of Asia concert grounds in Pasay City on May 21.

Meanwhile, the NBI will also invite representatives from all the organizers and planners of the event to give their statements on Monday next week.

The representative of Eventscape Manila gave her statement on Thursday, saying they submitted a comprehensive overall project proposal – which included security, emergency and evacuation plans – to the city government before they secured a permit.

Eventscape also stressed that the city government allowed sale of alcohol in the event.

Yesterday, three personnel from the security agency of the Mall of Asia complex, including its head, also gave their statements yesterday, providing information that corroborated Eventscape’s claims.