Two concertgoers in Pasay City died of heart attacks, police say

MANILA, Philippines –  A Pasay City police official on Monday said two of the five individuals who died after attending a concert party in the city passed away due to massive heart attacks.

According to Police Chief Inspector Rolando Baula, the initial results of the medico-legal test conducted by Dr. Wilfredo Tierra of the National Bureau of Investigation on Bianca Fontejon, 18 and businessman Lance Garcia, 36, revealed that they died of heart attacks.

He said the Station Investigation and Detective Management unit of the Pasay City Police has yet to determine if either Fontejon and Garcia had a history of heart disease or heart failure.

The initial medico-legal test results tend to contradict reports circulating on social media that some of the concertgoers at Closeup Forever Summer in the Mall of Asia concert grounds had drug-laced drinks or took illegal drugs that led to the death of five people. Authorities have conducted toxicology test to verify if the fatalities had alcohol before they passed away.

“Ongoing pa po yung pangangalap natin ng ebidensya. In fact, during our autopsy examination, kumuha po si Dr. Tierra ng specimen sa internal organs ng biktima to determine kung ano talaga nag-trigger, kung bakit nagkaroon sila ng massive heart attack,” Baula said.

On Sunday, Fontejon; Garcia; Ariel Leal, 22; American citizen Eric Anthony Miller, 33; and Ken Migawa, 18, passed away after being found unconscious in separate areas of the concert party venue. Migawa, earlier reported to be in critical condition, passed away on Sunday night.

The five victims were brought to separate hospitals after they collapsed.  Leal and Garcia were brought to San Juan De Dios Hospital while Fontejon and Miller were brought to Manila Doctors Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.

The incident report made by investigator on case Police Officer 3 Alberto Barangas Jr.said the victims were not related to each other and attended the concert separately.

The Pasay City Police is also coordinating with SM management and and with the event organizer to get the names of concessionaires allowed to sell food and liquor and other beverages during the concert party.

Relatives were advised by police to have an autopsy conducted but Leal’s family declined the examination.

The Embassy of United States will also be notified of Miller’s death.

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