On November 5th, rapper Travis Scott held a festival called Astroworld at NRG Park in Houston. Nearly 50,000 people attended the sold out concert. By the end of the concert, just after 9:00 pm, authorities discovered eight people had been trampled and suffocated. Officials have stated, "The crowd, for whatever reason, began to push and surge towards the front of the stage, which caused the people in the front to be compressed -- they were unable to escape that situation," according to ABCnews. This panic within the crowd overwhelmed the security at the festival.
Also according to ABCnews 33 people soon arrived at nearby hospitals, with 11 being in critical condition. 8 of the 11 people were dead on arrival, with two more passing away later. Ten days after the concert, on November 15th, a 9 year old passed away, making him the youngest person to die as a result of the overcrowded concert.
According to Vulture, the concert's live stream showed Scott pause the show with a look of confusion as the ambulances pulled in with flashing lights, but did not stop the concert. The Houston police and event security staff stopped the concert as soon as the situation got to the point that they had used all their resources. The next day on November 6th, Scott posted to Twitter “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD 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.”
The next day, Scott posted an emotional video on Instagram, addressing the criticism against him for his failure to stop the show. Scott claimed he didn't become aware of the “severity of the situation” and stated that “Anytime I could make out, you know, anything that’s going on, you know, I stop the show and, you know, help them get the help they need,” he said. He added that he and the authorities worked together to “try to get to the bottom of this.” Scott continued, “I’m honestly just devastated, and I could never imagine anything like this happening.”
According to CNN, a new lawsuit has been filed on the behalf of more than 280 festival goers. Some of the defendants include Apple Music, Travis Scott, Drake, and Live Nation for negligence. It's clear that there needs to be more limits in place when it comes to festivals so incidents like this won't happen again.
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