Cadver discovered during a festival in Ariège: “We finished the evening by saying that everything had gone well” … The organizers in shock

Rock “with aioli sauce”, crazy punk, festive hip-hop, Latino folklore … The 20th edition of the “Spring Smile” festival, which took place in the streets of Saurat, in Ariège, from May 1 to, had everything to please-and he held all his promises, delighting the 700 festival-goers gathered for the occasion.

Until the drama broke out: this Sunday, May 4, at the beginning of the morning, a festival -goer was found inanimate in his car, in the parking lot fitted out some distance from the marquee, opposite the bistro. Arrived at the scene around 9 am, the firefighters and the Samu found the victim in cardio-ventilatory arrest and could only note his death, although a person tried to give him first aid as soon as the body is discovered.

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Presented at the start as from Saint-Girons, this 38-year-old man would actually come from the Limoges or Creuse region, from where he had left with friends to attend the festival, the organizers indicate. “All we know is that he left to rest, undoubtedly very tired, in a state that one can imagine after three days of the festival,” reports Pablo Coustau, co -president of the Artambouille association. According to an insistent rumor, the victim would have succumbed to excessive consumption of narcotics. “But we don’t really know,” said Pablo Coustau. All hypotheses are possible, we will wait for the result of toxicological analyzes. “

“He moved to rest a little, we discussed”

The organization of the festival had however planned everything to avoid this kind of incident by calling on the Toulouse Association for Risk Prevention Corzéame, which had dispatched three volunteers to Saurat on May 2 and set up a stand where to find protective equipment. “We are on festive events to allow people to take advantage of the evening without endangering themselves, even if there is a drug or alcohol consumption,” said one of his volunteers on the scene.

According to him, the victim had not given them any warning signs. “This gentleman, I saw him spend a moment at the level of the stand one or two hours before, nothing to report, he was going very well, he spoke distinctly. He settled to rest a little, we discussed – he did not really know us, we exchanged well.”

“It was not someone we had particularly noticed, confirms another volunteer, we were really surprised. Everything went extremely well, apart from a person who hurt himself with an ankle and another who was lying down and which we took care of. When I woke up this morning, it was great and when we learned that, we didn’t expect it.”

No incident to deplore in 20 years of festival

Paying attention to security and an absence of incident which are almost the mark of the demonstration. “There has been no accidents since the festival existed,” said Pablo Custau. We never called firefighters in 20 years, there were 130 volunteers, everyone was completely invested, in terms of security we paid attention to everything. “

“Everyone was fully so that it goes well, adds Céline, a volunteer. It was really the party, this festival, there was only joy. It is a blow and it is struggling, when we had finished the evening by saying that everything had gone well. But unfortunately, we cannot be with each person.”

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The precise origin and the identity of the victim have not yet been revealed. The SAMU having noted a “medico-legal obstacle”, the gendarmerie opened an investigation under the aegis of the Foix prosecution in order to determine the causes of death. Contacted, the public prosecutor of Foix, Olivier Mouysset, refuses to comment on this affair. Also requested, the mayor of Saurat, Jean-Luc Rouan, did not follow up on our requests.