Over the weekend, rapper Travis Scott held his first annual Astroworld Festival, in Houston, TX.
This past Friday night, a packed crowd at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival surged toward the main stage, creating an uncomfortable mosh pit. Crushing against each other, the audience was uncomfortably close the whole show. The show ended with the death of eight people and injuries to many due to the moshing.
About 50,000 people attended the festival at the sold-out NRG Park in Houston, Texas, when the incident began around 9 p.m. CT, said an article from CNN.
The victims consisted of a 14-year-old, 16-year-old, two 21-year-olds, two 23-year-olds and one 27-year-old. Houston’s mayor Sylvester Turner also said that one of the victims’ age remains unknown in a press conference Saturday evening.
Of those injured, 25 people were transported to the hospital, and 13 still remain there as of Saturday afternoon. Five of them are under 18 years old, Turner said.
Ohio University students are also weighing in their thoughts on the incident this past weekend.
“I honestly was really upset by it,” Leah Vaught, a freshman studying meteorology, said. “I posted a lot of stuff on my (Instagram) story about it as well. I was really irritated. I actually couldn’t sleep the night after it happened, and if I was so upset about seeing videos of what happened, I can’t imagine what the people that were actually at the festival saw and witnessed. That has to be so traumatizing. If you still support Travis Scott after this, red-flag, something’s wrong with you. He had the ability to stop the concert multiple times and he never stopped.”
Scott not stopping his show is of utmost concern to Vaught and Stan Yerrick, a freshman studying political science.
“I think it was pretty screwed up the way Travis obviously saw what was happening and refused to shut down the concert and now there’s more people that have been reported dead,” Yerrick said. “It’s just sort of really sad. There’s also been a lot of videos coming out of other artists who have shut down concerts for way smaller events that have happened. A girl collapsed at an Adele concert and she stopped everything to check on her, so it was sort of messed up that Scott just didn’t care.”
Concert-goer Alexis Guavin, 23, said once Scott started his performance, all hell broke loose. Guavin said 50,000 people ran to the front, compressing everyone together, allowing little air for them to breathe.
Live Nation, the company associated with the event, issued a statement saying it was “heartbroken for those lost and impacted.”
Officials now say they are in the process of investigating the key causes and what could have been done to prevent the incident from occurring. The Houston Police Department tweeted on Sunday that the investigation into the tragedy is active and “is in its early stages.”
Scott broke his silence in regards to the chaos through an emotional Instagram story late Saturday.
His Instagram story post said, “My fans really mean the world to me and I always just really want to leave them with a positive experience. Anytime I can make out anything that’s going on, I stop the show and help them get the help they need, you know?”
Meanwhile, his partner Kylie Jenner said she did not know people had died at the Astroworld Festival until after Friday’s show.
“Travis and I are broken and devastated. My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their lives, were injured or affected in any way by yesterday's events,” Jenner said.
Scott and Drake, another performer featured at Friday night’s show, are now being sued. Fox News confirmed that Texas attorney Thomas J. Henry filed a lawsuit Sunday against the two performers along with Live Nation and NRG Stadium.
Henry also noted in a press release following the lawsuit that Scott and Drake continued to perform even as vehicles attempted to break through the crowd to help those who had been injured and others called for the show to be stopped.
A report from The Daily Mail said the suit is being filed on behalf of concert-goer Kristian Paredes, 23, from Austin, Texas. Paredes is seeking more than $1 million in damages after both rappers allegedly “incited the crowd” and ”left them injured.”
“I think that the concert was not handled well,” Ella Jay, a sophomore studying journalism, said. “I think it was understaffed and they didn’t have the right medical supplies. It wasn’t well-prepared.”
Sources close to Scott announced Monday he would not be performing at this weekend’s Day N Vegas Festival that he was set to headline, saying he was “too distraught.” The rapper also vowed to refund all the attendees at the festival.
Scott said he would also cover the costs for the funerals of those who died at the festival and has partnered with BetterHelp to supply free one-on-one online therapy for those affected by the incident.
