Crush at Houston music festival kills at least eight, injures many
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Toro y Moi performing onstage, during the third Astroworld Festival, NRG Park November 05, 2021, Houston, Texas.
Getty Images| Getty Images
Officials confirmed that eight were among the victims and several were in serious condition after a crowd surged towards the Astroworld festival’s opening night.
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña confirmed the casualty figures at a news conference early on Saturday outside NRG Park.
Peña said that at around 9 p.m. the crowd that had gathered for a performance by popular rapper Travis Scott began to push toward the front of the stage, causing panic and injuries.
He said that people began to become unconscious and that the chaos escalated up until 9:38 PM when “mass casualty incidents” were triggered.
Firefighters transported 17 patients to hospital, 11 of whom were suffering from cardiac arrest.
We don’t know what caused this disaster.
“It’s important for us all to not speculate. Troy Finner from Houston Police said, “Nobody has all the answers tonight.” “If facts are not available, and evidence is lacking, then I won’t speak for you.” There are many families that have been hurt here.
Finner said that Scott and the organizers were cooperating with police.
Astroworld and Live Nation did not respond immediately to our request for comment.
It happened in a flash. “It seemed as if it had happened instantly… in a matter of minutes,” stated Chief Larry Satterwhite, Houston Police Executive Assistant.
“Suddenly, we had many people down on to the ground, suffering some type cardiac arrest or other medical episode,” he said.
Fans in distress
The Houston Chronicle reported that Scott stopped several times in his performance of 75 minutes when he saw people who needed help.
He asked security for help to get the group out. Multiple times, he saw emergency vehicles and flashing alarms cutting through the crowds.
Fire department tweeted that there was a center for reunification of families without contact at festival.
A crowd of 50,000 showed up for the two-day event, Peña said. Pena announced that the second day of festival was canceled.
Early Saturday morning, social media users shared video clips from the catastrophe.
A clip showed an ambulance being pulled up while the crowd continued to move to the music. Scott addressed the crowd and raised his fist in another clip.
Another clip that Reuters was unable to verify authentically, featured police performing CPR on several victims while music played.
“It was an extremely sad night. Lina Hidalgo from Harris county said her hearts were broken.
“Tonight’s attention should however be placed on our families and those who have died. “Many of them are extremely young, and they’re tragically young,” she said.
Scott, a Houston native, became famous in 2010 for his distinctive vocal style. Astroworld is the title of his 2018 studio album. It received critical acclaim.
Kylie Jenner is Kylie’s daughter.
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