A-level boy dies at Costa rave ‘after he took ecstasy’
A TEENAGER who went on holiday to Spain to celebrate finishing his A-levels died after collapsing at a rave.
Friends claimed grammar school pupil Alex Masterton, 19, had taken ecstasy pills at the 16hour event in a club. He was treated at the scene but died in hospital about four hours later.
Alex, from Grimsby, was in a group of 13 nearing the end of their one-week holiday in Salou.
They joined 4,000 revellers at the Elrow nightclub near Barcelona on Saturday night.
One friend, named only as Miles, told Spanish media: ‘We knew Alex had taken pills. The heat was unbearable.’
Bottled water in the club was £3.50 for 100ml and they had to queue for 15 minutes to buy it, he claimed. ‘Alex collapsed inside the club. It was inside, not outside. Suddenly he disappeared.’ They did not find out Alex was dead until after they returned to their chalets, he said.
Alex, a pupil at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth, Lincolnshire, had won a place to study biomedical sciences at Newcastle University.
Headteacher James Lascelles said: ‘Alex had matured into a lovely lad with real personality His loss will be deeply felt.’
Alex’s parents were too upset to speak last night.
Elrow’s founder Juan Arnau insisted Alex became unwell outside the club. ‘He was found very distressed by security staff. An ambulance was called, he was stabilised and was taken to hospital,’ Mr Arnau said. ‘He died four or five hours later in hospital, from a cardiac arrest.’