11/11/2021 Update: Since the time of publishing this post, one more person has died of their injuries. The total number of deaths from the Astroworld Music Festival Mass Casualty Event is now 9.
According to Paul Wertheimer, a concert safety expert, the deaths and injuries as a result of the Astroworld Music Festival were completely preventable.
The expert believes that the crowd was packed too densely and improperly managed; the fans were victims because they were in an environment they could not control.
Wertheimer knows all too well what can happen when crowds at concerts are not properly controlled. He began his mission for concert safety in 1979 when he was an investigator during an incident in which 11 fans were trampled to death at a The Who concert.
The Who concert tragedy in 1979, the Travis Scott Astroworld incident, and other concert incidents all have one thing in common–festival seating. Rather than fans having assigned seats, it is a first-come-first-serve basis for a standing experience allowing on average two square feet per person. This allows for concert venues to pack more fans into each event and sell more tickets.
Read more about how these deaths were preventable at the LA Times.
