2nd Paradiso festival-goer dies in hospital

A second man has died after becoming ill at the Paradiso Music Festival in Central Washington, the British Columbia Coroners Service confirmed Monday. Vivek Pandher died Saturday in Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia. The 22-year-old was one of dozens who were rushed to emergency rooms after attending the festival last week at the Gorge Amphitheatre. Barb McLintock, a spokeswoman for the Coroners Service, said Pandher was found unresponsive at the festival. He was initially treated at Quincy Valley Medical Center, then transferred to Confluence Health in Wenatchee, said Kyle Foreman, a spokesman for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The cause of Pandher’s death has not been determined. Many who were treated after attending the festival suffered drug intoxication or heat exhaustion. A 22-year-old Portland man, Beau B. Brooks, died on June 28, the morning after the two-day festival, possibly due to 105-degree heat, according to the sheriff’s office. Both deaths come just two years after a 21-year-old Washington State University student died at Paradiso from dehydration caused by the heat and methamphetamine intoxication.