Police are appealing for public assistance after a security guard was seriously injured at a music festival in Sydney over the weekend.

An incident happened at the Sydney leg of Listen Out, now in its second year, which over the weekend saw some of Australia and the world’s best electronic acts perform including Flume, Chet Faker, and Zhu.

The guard was responding to a large group of gatecrashers who forced their way through event fencing into Randwick’s Centennial Park at about 4:40pm.

“As the 29-year-old man was responding to the rush, he fell to the ground and a person landed heavily on his abdomen,” a police statement said. “The guard was able to walk to a stage area before collapsing.”

He was treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics before being taken to St Vincent’s Hospital with a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding. According to police he is currently in a stable condition in hospital.

Police from the Eastern Beaches Local Area Command are now on the hunt for a man who they believe may be able to assist them with the case. He has been described as being in his late teens or early 20s, with a solid build and short dark brown hair.

He was last seen wearing a grey T-shirt and red shorts, police said.

Police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

It’s the latest incident as summer music festival season begins. A week ago seven people have been hospitalised while a further 83 have been arrested at the Defqon.1 music festival, also in Sydney.

Despite calls for an end to the sniffer dogs following the tragic death of James Munro last year, police doubled their presence to over 200 officers from Penrith Local Area Command, the North West Metropolitan Region and the Dog Squad.

During the operation police conducted 372 person searches with 83 drug detections. Of the drug arrests, seven were for drug supply offences, while one person was arrested for having 250 pills of what is alleged to be MDMA.

About 350 people received medical treatment for drug and heat-related illnesses with seven taken to Nepean Hospital for further treatment.

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