Staff Reports

Fontana– On July 30 and 31, the HARD Summer Music Festival was held at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. After the two day musical festival, three people passed away.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department released the three persons listed below who had attended the Hard Summer Music Festival:

Derek Lee, 22, of San Francisco, died at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Alyssa Dominguez, 21, of San Diego died at Kaiser Foundation Hospital of Fontana, and Roxanne Ngo, 22, of Chino Hills, died at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

“Each was transported from the event to different hospitals for medical attention. These deaths are being investigated individually and, at this time, are not believed to be related. The cause and the manner of death are still under investigation. Because the cases are still being investigated, the coroner division will not be releasing any further details,” said the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

HARD summer festival goers also had many concerns of the lack of properly trained medical staff on site for the event in case of someone needing attention. The organization of getting people into the event seemed to also be of concern, as metal wires sticking out through the tunnel they were led through to get into the event.

As per any event, things don’t always run smoothly, but there are definitely some bright moments to these types of events that bring so many people together. Recent HARD event attendee Michele Pila says, “Raving and music festivals aren’t just what you hear in the news. All the negativity you see is unfortunately all that gets out. You don’t see how it’s one large community of people who just enjoy a good time. Don’t let people’s mistakes make you look down on our beautiful community!! I feel so free and absolutely LOVE this environment! I get it, it’s not for everyone. But it’s for me and thousands of others! For some it’s our escape from reality for a bit…and for just a day or 2 we forget all our problems.”

When asked how she felt about the three who passed, Pila said she didn’t know how she felt about it because they haven’t confirmed what the cause of death was. However, she did say, “It’s really sad that lives were lost, and I just wish the outcome could have been different.”