Eight concertgoers are dead and dozens are left injured following a crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld, which took place in at NRG Park in Houston, Texas on Friday (Nov. 5), according to authorities.
The incident occurred at the third-annual Astroworld Festival, a sold-out concert event, organized by Travis Scott & Live Nation, that featured performances by Scott, SZA, Bad Bunny, Chief Keef, Tame Impala, Young Thug + YSL, Earth Wind & Fire, Roddy Ricch, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, and many more.
According to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña, the worst of the injuries occurred around 9:15 p.m., when the crowd of nearly 50,000 concertgoers began to push their way to the front of the stage.
“The crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage, and people began to panic,” Peña said.
While around 9:30 p.m., the most deadly moments of the tragic event occurred, as Peña said more than 300 patients had been treated at a field hospital nearby. Names and ages of the eight casualities weren’t known, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that one of the victims at the event was a 10-year-old child.
“Houston Fire Department and Harris County medics transported 23 people to hospitals, 17 of those patients were taken away during the worst of the ordeal, according to Peña, who also said CPR had to be performed on 11 of the victims. HFD had 55 units in-service for the festival, Peña said,” per ABC13.
The tragedy happened when the festival founder and headliner was joined on stage by Drake during a surprise appearance, causing excitement in the crowd, which caused a crowd surge.
Travis Scott brought out Drake at #AstroworldFest 🎪 https://t.co/fIv1xoeeGt
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) November 6, 2021
367 police officers and 241 security officers were on-duty during the tragic event, including Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite, who in a press conference early this morning shared, “Once we started having the mass casualty incident, they were starting CPR on several people, and it happened all at once.”
Satterwhite continued. “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.”
It is currently unknown how the eight people died, but The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to determine the cause of death.
The remaining dates of the festival are now canceled, and the festival grounds are now an active crime scene.
Astroworld Festival shared the below statement following the tragedies at the event.
“Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight – especially those we lost and their loved ones,” a statement from the festival read. “We are focused on supporting local officials, however, we can with that in mind the festival will no longer be held on Saturday.”
“As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier. They are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this. Please reach out to @HoustonPolice,” the statement continued. “Thank you to our partners at the Houston Police Department, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their response and support.”
— ASTROWORLD FEST (@astroworldfest) November 6, 2021
