Gold Coast drugs: Another eight hospitalised amid probe into possible bad batch

Another eight people have been taken to hospital on the Gold Coast after hallucinating from illicit drugs, with 16 people now hospitalised this weekend from what could be the same batch of drugs.

Overnight, paramedics treated seven people at Surfers Paradise nightclub precinct, and another person at Labrador.

One person was put in an induced coma.

A spokesperson for Queensland Ambulance Service said they were investigating whether all those hospitalised took the same drug, following another eight hospitalisations early on Saturday morning

At 8:00am on Saturday, paramedics had to take four men and one woman — all in their 20s — to hospital after they were found in a distressed state at a house party.

Some were swimming in a canal, and all were suffering hallucinations.

“There was a couple running up and down the street, the others were just laying on the couch, very agitated and not making much sense,” Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson Paul Young said.

The group was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition, but one was placed in an induced coma.

In a separate incident, paramedics were also called to treat three men at the Islander Resort Hotel in Surfers Paradise about 1:00am on Saturday.

The men, all aged in their 20s, had to be hospitalised after also suffering similar severe hallucinations.

Authorities believe the drug in question is a version of MDMA.

Mr Young said the overdoses were a “concern” leading up to Schoolies, which kicks off in mid-November.

“It’s a bit of a concern to QAS and other emergency services, being so close to Schoolies, that these type of drugs are around out there, and this is what happens if you should take them,” Mr Young said.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.