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.
Houston Astroworld Catastrophe
Eight People Perish due to Crowd Stampede at Travis Scott Performance
Dozens were hurt at the concert, which was part of a two-day music festival in Houston. According to city officials, a child as young as 10 was among those wounded.
This is what you need to know:
- A crowd stampede at Astroworld shaped terror causing casualties as a consequence
- The show didn’t stop as tension increased and the situation escalated
- Listen to attendees cry out for aid as the performance persists
- Travis Scott states he is ‘absolutely devasted’ at the gig’s fatalities
- While festivals are secure, all crowds have a hazard
- Concert-attendee suffers fractured vertebrae after falling from a third-floor balcony at 2017 Travis Scott show
A Crowd Stampede at Astroworld Created Terror Resulting in Deaths
A Travis Scott concert in Houston on Saturday night resulted in at least eight deaths and more than 70 injuries when a huge crowd surged toward the front of the stage. Around 50,000 people attended the event, according to video footage.
At least eight people were murdered, and dozens more were wounded at a music event in Houston on Friday night, according to city officials, who held a press conference Saturday afternoon. According to reports, the crush of people pushing toward the front of the stage began when approximately 20,000 concertgoers packed into the venue.
During a performance by rapper Travis Scott, the crowd surge “caused some panic and began causing some injuries,” according to Fire Chief Samuel Peña. The concert was part of the Astroworld music festival, which began on Friday and ended on Saturday. According to the Fire Department, around 50,000 people attended the event on Friday night.
Nick Johnson, 17, claims, “It was like hell. Everybody was just in the back, trying to rush to the front.”
The Show Didn’t Stop as Tension Increased and the Situation Escalated
Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston has requested a comprehensive report on the Astroworld stampede, including questions about security and safety. Mr. Sylvester Turner, a native Houstonian, has known the family of Travis Scott for many years: his mother, his sister, and even his grandmother. Despite his lack of rapport with Mr. Scott, he has attempted to assist Houston musicians like the rapper in the past. He is now vowing a “thorough examination and investigation” after last night’s tragedy, which claimed eight lives.
In a phone conversation on Saturday, Mr. Turner said that there had been about 11 people in cardiac arrest at the show, but he added that the causes of the fatalities were still being investigated.
“We had more security over there than we did at the World Series,” he said. The event took place on city-owned land, with security provided by the city of Houston. “In addition to what I’m told were 240 or 250 non-police security that were [sic] there,” he said. The Houston Police Department sent hundreds of cops.
“It’s too soon to say whether the security operation was good enough or what caused the eight deaths,” he said. “I’m going to delay any sort of conclusion until we’ve completed a thorough examination and investigation.”
Listen to Attendees Cry Out for Help as the Show Goes On
The day after the opening of AstroWorld in Houston, the area outside the stadium was empty. A few blinking lights and roadside signs announced that the event had been postponed. The signs stated, “Astroworld canceled.”
Officials had established a “reunification center” for victims’ families at a hotel across the street from the stadium. The police said that a “trickle” of families has come through so far, and they anticipate even more to arrive as people begin to wake up and learn about the tragedy.
The 18-year-old girl’s brother, a deputy sheriff named Tristan Birl, drove by the hotel to check on his cousin who had gone down from Dallas to attend the concert. He was relieved to learn that she had gotten out okay and was with her pals. She didn’t notice any of the injuries that occurred, he informed me in a phone conversation.
Travis Scott States He’s ‘Absolutely Devasted’ at the Festival’s Deaths
When Travis Scott went on stage, things became pandemonium, according to one concertgoer.
As audience members pushed to get to the stage, “you could just feel it more and more and more,” he said, “squishing, everyone screaming, not being able to breathe.”
Many tried to come to their aid as they lay on the ground, but there was no place to go.
His friend Angel Rodriguez enhanced: “I turned around and saw someone with their eyes closed, passed out.”
According to the teens, many in the crowd had been wearing hoodies because it was so cold outside, but as soon as they went inside, it became stifling. The couple, high school seniors from Friendswood, Texas, had traveled to Houston with a group of friends to attend the concert.
“It was hard for me to get good air,” Nick stated. “It was probably over 100 degrees with everyone around you.”
Throughout all of this, Travis Scott kept the show going. “I just don’t think he realized what was happening,” Nick said.
Crowds Pose Huge Risk at Festivals
According to those who went to the Astroworld music festival, the crush of the crowd was so great that no room to move remained.
“You can literally jump in the air, and you’re there in the air — it’s like if your hands are up, your hands are staying up, there’s no bringing your hands up, bringing them down,” Vanessa Johnson, 20, claimed on Saturday.
They were then pushed up to the front, according to a friend of Julian Ponce’s, 21, who was standing nearby during Travis Scott’s performance. “We just kept hearing, ‘Stop the show, stop the show!'”
They claimed, however, that at the time, it did not appear to be as bad.
“People usually pass out at concerts like that,” according to Ms. Johnson. “I just thought they were passing out; I didn’t think people were, like, dead.”
The two were San Antonio college students who had come to Houston to see the show. Mr. Ponce said he observed a guy carrying a lady who was out cold.
“There was one big dude carrying his girlfriend, and she was passed out, and he was pushing through everybody to get her out,” he said.
Ms. Johnson recalled many people shouting, “Move! Move!”
Concert-Attendee Suffers Fractured Vertebrae After Falling from Third-Floor Balcony at 2017 Travis Scott Show
The deadly crowd surge at a Houston music festival on Friday night was the latest in a string of violent altercations at Travis Scott’s concerts. His shows are known for wild mosh pits, crowd surfing, and stage diving, and the artist, who has been called “one of today’s most energetic and disruptive live performers,” frequently encourages it.
In 2017, Kyle Green, a concertgoer, claimed that he had been paralyzed and required a wheelchair after being pushed from a third-story balcony and then dragged on stage while the rapper performed at Terminal 5 in New York City.
Mr. Green sued Mr. Scott and his manager, the concert promoter that runs Terminal 5 and puts on the show, as well as Strike Force Protective Services, claiming “negligence, carelessness, and recklessness.”
The footage, a sold-out show, shows Mr. Scott encouraging attendees on the balcony to leap into the crowd below. “Don’t be scared,” he exclaims as a spotlight shines on one dangling concertgoer. “They’ll catch you.”
Howard Hershenhorn, one of Kyle Green’slawyersr, said his client did not jump but was shoved from the third floor as the crowd surged to the ledge. Mr. Green can be seen lying still on the floor of the venue in footage from that night.
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Green suffered fractured vertebrae, a broken left wrist, and a fractured right ankle, all of which resulted in “extreme pain and suffering, loss of income, emotional distress, and medical costs.” Mr. Green’s lawyer said that had he received the prompt medical attention he needed he would not have been disabled.
