Nine backpackers were rushed to various hospitals in Perth, Western Australia, on Tuesday night after consuming an unknown substance resembling cocaine, arriving in a plot from New York.
The drug has since been identified as Hyoscine, also know as scopolamine.
Five Frenchs aged 21 to 24, two Germans aged 21 and 22, a 25-year-old Italian anda 24-year-old Moroccan, seven of whom were able to leave the hospitals where they were taken today. Two Frenchs are still fighting for their lives in intensive care and a German girl has been put in an artificial coma.
One of the drug's victim described the overdose as "terrifying" and said he was "trying to cry for help" but that his mouth was totally paralyzed.
Fortunately for the group, two roommates who did not take the drugs were able to call for help. David McCutcheon, an emergency physician at Royal Perth Hospital, told The West, the move will save the lives of many in the group.
"They brought us into a state of excited delirium, they hallucinated, their hearts pounding," he said to the ABC.
"Many of them had to be placed in a medically induced coma for their own protection."
"I really need to point out how seriously they were sick."
The package that arrived was sent to someone who has never lived in this house.
Seven News revealed that the package included an inside brochure with the word "scoop" printed and a piece of paper stuck with a lightning symbol.
The drug was sent to WA ChemCentre for analysis, but authorities are still unable to say which substance caused the overdose reaction, detectives against organized crime continue to investigate.
