Chaos in MK after Electric Daisy Carnival put people's lives in danger, claims concerned mum

This is the sad scene outside CMK train station as hundreds of festival-goers were left stranded after the city's 'badly organised' Electric Daisy Carnival
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Tens of thousands of people flocked to the National Bowl on July 9 for the biggest dance gig MK has ever seen.

But a protest group set up on Facebook claims the organisation was so bad that lives were put in danger.

One mum, Sarah Thomas, drove 125 miles to MK in the middle of the night after her daughter’s boyfriend went missing.

“His phone battery was flat because there were no charger points at the festival. We asked security staff at the bowl to help find him but they didn’t want to know,said Sarah.

She was shocked to find CMK police station closed at 3am, with stranded festival-goers outside desperate for help.

“We went to the train station, only to find it locked up with over 100 more people shivering outside. There were no police and medics. It was appalling,” she said.

One man died at the Electric Daisy Carnival, but Sarah says she is surprised more lives were not lost.

Liam McEwan, 23, was found at the bowl at 1.23am - almost an hour and a half after the festival closed. He died shortly afterwards in hospital.

Sarah said: “We were lucky. We found my daughter’s boyfriend after several hours. He asked for help everywhere but been refused.”

She has set up a Facebook group called - EDC MK Bowl Complaints Group to campaign for improvements.

A spokesman for EDC organisers Festival Republic told the Citizen: “Our festival goers’ safety is of the upmost importance to us.”

He said the company was investigating all the complaints and responding to them as soon as possible.

He added: “We are deeply saddened by a death at EDC UK this year.

“The man in question received immediate attention, was taken to see on site medics and then later transported to Milton Keynes hospital, where he sadly passed away.”

Milton Keynes Council has pledged to raise EDC festival goers’ concerns at the official debriefing meeting with organisers and other agencies.

“We take these incidents extremely seriously.The meeting will look at any lesson learned,” said a spokesman.

Meanwhile Thames Valley Police told the Citizen: “We are extremely pleased with our policing of the Electric Daisy Festival. Our role was to support security, manage public safety and investigate any reported crime. Police officers also facilitated the safe egress of festival goers from the site.”

The police spokesman said late trains were available and the rail station was policed.

He said extra officers were on duty but CMK police station stuck to its normal opening hours of 8am to 10pm, with a free phone outside for 24 hour use.