A woman has died and a second was in critical condition after overdosing in Queensland’s southeast.

Australian police have identified the woman who tragically died from a drug overdose in a Gold Coast high-rise apartment.

Danielle Whittaker, who is originally from Wellington, was celebrating her 40th birthday on Good Friday surrounded by six close friends, Queensland police said.

Emergency workers were called to an apartment in Surfers Paradise after reports of people unconscious and not breathing.

Queensland Ambulance Service’s Mitchell Ware said three patients were treated for a suspected drug overdose, including a 43-year-old woman who was in cardiac arrest.

”The other two were not breathing for themselves so ambulance (medics) obviously had to provide supplemental oxygen for them.”

Two other women were taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where one is being treated in the intensive care unit in critical condition.

Danielle Whittaker was celebrating her 40th birthday on Good Friday surrounded by six close friends. Photo / 9 News

Whittaker had lived in Australia for several years, her friend Kaz Jackson said, and she was loved and missed by many.

Her family did not want to make any comment at this stage, Jackson said, as they “needed space to grieve”.

The other woman is considered stable.

Four other people were assessed at the scene but were not taken to hospital.

Ware said paramedics have seen an increase in similar incidents.

Danielle Whittaker was celebrating her 40th birthday on Good Friday surrounded by six close friends. Photo / Nine News

”We are going to these patients frequently,” he said.

”They present, whether it be unconscious, they can stop breathing, they can become violent.”

Ware said a toxicology report would be prepared by police, but warned people of the risks of recreational drug use.

”There is no such thing as a party drug,” he said.

”When people are obviously buying these drugs there is an element of risk. You don’t know what’s going into them, you don’t know who’s made them.”

Police will prepare a report for the coroner into the woman’s death, while the 43-year-old woman has now been released from hospital, according to 9 News.