8 dead, many injured at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in Houston
Nov 06, 2021
Houston [US], November 7 : At least 8 persons were dead and many injured after a crowd surge at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in Houston on Friday night (local time).
Members of a densely packed crowd surged toward a stage and were crushed against each other at a Houston music festival, witnesses and officials said, reported CNN.
The victims were 14, 16, two were 21, two were 23 and one was 27 years old, while one of the victim's ages remains unknown, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner informed on Saturday.
There are no people reported missing, the mayor added. At least 25 people were transported to the hospital and of those, 13 remained hospitalized Saturday afternoon, the mayor said. Five of them are under 18 years old, he added.
"There are a lot of unanswered questions," Turner said. "Over the next several days, several weeks, could be even longer, we'll take an in-depth look at everything that took place, why it took place, what steps we can do moving forward to mitigate an incident of this kind from taking place," reported CNN.
About 50,000 people were at the sold-out Astroworld Festival at NRG Park, the stadium complex where the Astrodome and the NRG Stadium stand -- when the incident began just after 9 pm CT, officials said.
Video from the event showed the performer on an outdoor stage, rapper and event organizer Travis Scott paused and looked on in confusion as an ambulance with flashing lights moved into the densely packed crowd, reported CNN.
People there described being increasingly squeezed in the minutes before Scott's performance began, and then feeling crushed and seeing others pass out and scream in terror once his show started.
More than 300 people were treated at a field hospital set up near the festival Friday, said Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena told CNN Saturday morning.
In a statement on Twitter Saturday morning, festival organizers said "our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight -- especially those we lost and their loved ones," and they "are focused on supporting local officials however we can."
Scott separately said he is "absolutely devastated by what took place last night" in a statement posted to Twitter.
"My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival," read Scott's statement.
