Travis Scott Astroworld concert: Eight dead, hundreds injured after crowd crush and stampede
Travis Scott has reacted to the crowd surge and stampede that killed eight people and injured hundreds as eyewitness accounts emerged from the Astroworld festival. WARNING: Graphic
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
US rapper Travis Scott has posted a heartfelt message following a fatal crowd crush and chaotic stampede during the opening night of his set at the Astroworld music festival Houston, Texas.
“I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night,” said the world famous rapper on Twitter.
“My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at the Astroworld Festival.
Houston [Police Department] has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life.
“I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All.”
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 6, 2021
Alternative psych-rock Australian band Tame Impala was also listed on the festival line-up alongside Earth Wind & Fire, SZA, Young Thug, Bad Bunny, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Master P and Chief Keef.
Also at the concert was Scott’s partner Kylie Jenner and model sister Kendall.
Travis, you were robot dancing while people were dying tf pic.twitter.com/RmhkF161Ue
— snake (@98__Snake) November 6, 2021
On Saturday morning, local time, video was posted on social media showing Scott continuing his show even as paramedics struggled to get to people in the crowd who had gone into cardiac arrest.
The Houston Chronicle reported Scott stopped several times during his 75-minute performance when he spotted fans in distress near the stage.
He reportedly asked security to make sure they were OK. Emergency vehicles, lights and alarms flashing, cut through the crowds several times.
yea ight pic.twitter.com/iklF067RqI
— dont forget to chill 🧊 (@TheNoChillTy) November 6, 2021
Other video showed concertgoers trying to access the stage to get Scott’s crew to stop the concert.
everyone was yelling to stop and you still continued with the show how can you explain this bro pic.twitter.com/2UQRPZt144
— sergen (@s9rgen) November 6, 2021
‘MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT’
On Friday night, paramedics rushed about two dozen people to hospitals from the scene and CPR was performed on at least 11 of them when they were taken away, officials confirmed.
Those injured also included a child “as young as 10”.
At least 17 people were rushed to hospital, and 11 were in cardiac arrest. Some 300 concertgoers were treated at a field hospital on the scene.
Senior Harris County official Lina Hidalgo said it was “an extremely tragic night.”
“Our hearts are broken, people go to these events to have a good time, to make memories,” she added.
The City of Houston’s Office of Emergency Management has set up a hotline for those who have been unable to make contact with friends and loved ones who attended.
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said the tragedy was sparked when the crowd crush and stampede toward the stage occurred while Scott was performing at the third annual Astroworld music festival at NRG Park in the southern half of the US.
At around 9.15pm local time, the crowd of approximately 50,000 concertgoers began to move toward the front of the stage.
By 9.38pm, Pena said a “mass casualty incident” was triggered as the number of victims grew and emergency responders became overwhelmed.
“The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage and that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries.
“People started to fall out, become unconscious and it created additional panic.
“We had at least eight confirmed fatalities tonight and scores of individuals that were injured,” he said.
Pena said 17 people were rushed to hospital, with 11 of them in “cardiac arrest.”
Rapper Drake made a surprise appearance and joined Scott on stage at the concert which was live-streamed by Apple Music. He also posted photos to Instagram after their performance.
Music fans were crushed as hundreds ran from the stage. Revellers even began climbing onto portable loos as security attempted to control the crowd during the mayhem.
Social media video footage has revealed paramedics performing CPR on several people on the floor in the middle of the crowd.
Another clip on social media showed someone being rushed out on stretchers.
Survivors described chaotic scenes of people squeezed up against one another and many struggling to breathe, the Chronicle reported.
“We were hanging on to each other to avoid getting separated,” one survivor said. “If you let go, you could easily drift apart.” One concertgoer quoted in the paper described carrying a man who had fallen to safety over barricades in the arena and watching paramedics perform CPR.
‘FOAMING AT THE MOUTH’
On Saturday morning entertainment gossip website TMZ reported that sources told the site that at least one of the victims was seen foaming at the mouth before going into cardiac arrest.
Another source connected to Astroworld told TMZ someone in the crowd began injecting people with some sort of drug in what appeared to be a targeted attack, which caused panic and then the crowd surge, but this has not yet been confirmed by authorities.
The source says authorities are trying to determine if those who went into cardiac arrest were the ones injected.
‘CHAOS’, ‘DRUGS’: EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
“People were being pushed, people were being trampled, and then as I fought my way out of there, I saw people on the ground,” Logan Morris, a Dallas native who was at the show, told AFP.
Raul Marquez, 24, said he saw a lot of drinking and drug use in the crowd. “And they got hot and just dancing and it all caved in and just, they couldn’t breathe, and passed out left and right,” he said.
“Some people didn’t care and just stomped on them or ignored them. It was intense,” Marquez said.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told CNN that authorities are looking at video footage, talking to witnesses, concert organisers and people who were hospitalised.
“So we’re looking at everything,” Mr Turner said.
Houston is known for staging high profile events, he said, but “we’ve never had anything like this occur.” More than 300 people were treated on the scene for minor injuries in the first night of the two-day Astroworld Festival, which Scott helped organise, authorities said.
Survivors described chaotic scenes of people squeezed up against one another with many struggling to breathe.
Gavyn Flores, 18, said he was standing on the edge of the crowd near a barricade and could not move, for hours on end. He said he tried to hoist people over that wall.
“People were trying to get out, but you can’t move. So there kind of wasn’t a point of trying to get out, because they couldn’t. But if they could, we were trying to help them get thrown over,” Flores told AFP.
‘OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN’
Meanwhile, police are still trying to identify victims, and relatives who cannot locate loved ones have been asked to go to the local Wyndham Hotel.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called it an “extremely tragic night.”
“Our hearts are broken,” she said.
“People go to these events looking for a good time. It’s not the kind of event where you expect to find out about fatalities.”
“Nobody could dream of this … I think it’s important that no one speculates. We have none of the answers tonight,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said.
“At some point, the show was stopped when the crowd was surging.”
Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite who witnessed the event said: “Once we started having the mass casualty incident, they were starting CPR on several people, and it happened all at once.
“It seemed like it happened over the course of just a few minutes. Suddenly, we had several people down on the ground experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode.”
Entertainment company LiveNation, which organised Astroworld, said it would allow investigators to review footage from the show.
— ASTROWORLD FEST (@astroworldfest) November 6, 2021
Scott is also co-operating with law-enforcement as the event has now turned into a crime scene, Police Chief Finner said.
As the mayhem unfolded, “the show was stopped when the crowd was surging,” he said.
CHAOS FROM THE START
ABC News reporter from Houston Mycah Hatfield, said on Twitter chaos began as soon as doors opened on the first day of the event.
“A stampede burst through the gates. Hundreds of people destroyed the VIP security entrance, bypassing the checkpoint. People were trampled. Some were detained,” she tweeted.
Earlier in the day, fans were seen knocking down barricades at entrance gates blowing past metal detectors and security guards.
Scott’s show was called off shortly after several people were injured.
Astroworld is rapper Scott’s music festival and the second day of the event has already been cancelled.
The event was sold-out with 100,000 tickets snapped up within an hour of going on sale back in May, after it was cancelled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It wasn’t yet clear what caused the deaths or injuries. Chief Finner early Saturday shot down any early speculation about the multiple fatalities.
“There are a lot of rumours going around,” Finner said. “We have hurting families out here.”
It is unclear if any Australians are involved. News Corp has contacted DFAT for comment.
Originally published as Travis Scott Astroworld concert: Eight dead, hundreds injured after crowd crush and stampede
Hollywood myth about Rome proven true
A stunning discovery on an ancient Roman skeleton of a man who suffered a brutal death has finally confirmed this popular Hollywood trope.
Read more
‘STOP!’: Trump slams Putin after deadly strikes
Donald Trump has slammed Vladimir Putin in a rare outburst after Russia launched its deadliest strike on Ukraine’s capital in months.
Read more