2 dead, 4 in critical condition after two days of Electric Zoo Festival

Updated (text in bold): September 1, 2013 15:45 EDT

After an earlier report from ABC News in New York, Electric Zoo has confirmed that Sunday, the third and final day of the festival, will be canceled as a result of two deaths and multiple illnesses taking place over the first two days of the festival. The festival promoters decided to go with the recommendation of the New York City Parks Department, and shut down the final day.

The first reports surfaced in the early hours of Sunday in New York, and was confirmed by Electric Zoo’s official Twitter handle at 9:18 AM, Eastern Time. Reports have indicated that the deaths and other hospitalizations have been linked to the popular rave drug MDMA, or ecstasy. The deceased have been identified as Jeffrey Russ, 23, of Rochester, N.Y., and Olivia Rotondo, 20, of Providence, R.I. Each was brought to area hospitals on Saturday night.

Electric Zoo has been cancelled today Sunday, September 1st. More information to follow.

— Electric Zoo (@ElectricZooNY) September 1, 2013

The founders of Electric Zoo send our deepest condolences to the families of the two people who passed away… http://t.co/8YO1vgoVse

— Electric Zoo (@ElectricZooNY) September 1, 2013

The staff at Dance Rebels is saddened to learn this news, and we send our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those affected by this tragedy. We will update this post with any further information as it becomes available.

(Information from ABC News’ story was used in this post. Original article available here: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=9226418)