The Ozzfest tour has been hit with tragedy after two fans were killed during Thursday night’s (Aug. 16, 2007) show in New Jersey. According to reports, both deaths were alcohol and drug-related. Friends of the men said that they had taken cocaine, marijuana and alcohol before and during the show.

While deaths are not unheard of at large rock festivals, they are unusual at outdoor spaces like the PNC Bank Arts Center, which opened in 1968 as the Garden State Arts Center and has a capacity of 17,500. A spokesman for the Turnpike Authority said that the two deaths on Thursday, when attendance was just over 13,000, were believed to be the center’s first.

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