Another Two Deaths Confirmed From Sturgis Rally

In August we brought you the news that 12 motorcycle riders died during the Sturgis Rally event in South Dakota, but another two people have since been confirmed dead due to drug overdose.

The Sturgis Rally is not only one of the most heavily attended motorcycle events in the US, but in the world. Numbers such as 500,000 have been accredited to the event’s participation and with that comes a lot of criminal cases.

The 2024 Sturgis Rally saw 12 motorcycle riders die, many of whom were not wearing helmets. It’s not illegal to choose to ride without a helmet in some American states, although safety organisations in the US are lobbying for change.

The death tally in 2024 was higher than last year and that’s without including the two drug overdose cases which have now been confirmed.

In relation to the two cases, and several cases which did not lead to death, state health officials were unable to confirm the cause that led to the overdose cases.

According to the South Dakota Searchlight, “At least 12 cases with similarly mysterious symptoms were reported to the state, with six of the patients requiring intubation.”

State Public Health Laboratory Director Tim Southern, added: “Unfortunately we weren’t able to discover the culprit behind these very unusual clinical cases and overdoses. Fortunately, these strange occurrences did end when the rally ended.”

Southern confirmed that the first case of suspected overdose-like symptoms was reported on July 28, prior to the event officially beginning, while the last was on 7 August. He also admitted that several of the patients required more than one dose of sedatives because patients were proving very difficult to control whilst being taken to the emergency centre.

A whopping total of 444 arrests were made due to drug usage during the Rally, while there were also 155 arrests made for driving under the influence.

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