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One dead, four critical after taking MDMA in Oldham

One person has died and four others are critical after taking a "highly potent" form of the drug MDMA, police have said.

The 26-year-old man from Rochdale was one of 11 people rushed to hospital in Oldham on Saturday night after taking the drug.

It is believed to come in crystal form and may be known locally as "magic" or "pink champagne".

It has been described as resembling brown sugar.

Many of those interviewed by police said this was the first time they had seen the drug.

Greater Manchester Police have urged anyone who may have taken it to seek medical attention immediately.

Symptoms of taking the drug include rigid muscles, shallow breathing and a racing pulse. They may progress to aggression or mania, seizure, foaming at the mouth and unconsciousness.

Chief Superintendent Neil Evans said: "We have a full team working on the police investigation and we are appealing for anyone with any information about where this drug is coming from to get in touch as soon as possible.

"I would like to reiterate the dangers of taking this or any recreational drug. We have sadly had one person tragically die as a result of taking MDMA this weekend and others are fighting for their lives.

"We will be supporting their devastated families. I hope we don't have to support even more families. Cases like this are ones that we always hope we don't have to deal with."

A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs and later released under investigation.

One other person is in a stable condition and three have been released from hospital.

Professor Matthew Makin, Medical Director for the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said that police, the NHS and Public Health England were working with toxicology experts in a coordinated response.

But it is still unclear why the drug caused such harm to a relatively high number of people.

"It's very unusual to have a cluster of such severely unwell people," Mr Makin said. "Is that because of a particular purity of the drug, or because it's contaminated?

"If we don't know what it is, you don't know what you're buying off the street."