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Eight people were killed and more than 300 were injured following a stampede at Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert at NRG Park in Houston on Saturday night (November 6th). According to Billboard, more than 25 people were rushed to the hospital following the tragedy. The Houston Fire Department Chief Samuel Pena said during a press conference that a “mass casualty” event occurred at around 9:38pm at the concert, which had approximately 50,000 in attendance. Pena said that trouble began shortly after 9pm when “the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage and that caused some panic and started causing some injuries. People began to fall out and become unconscious and that created additional panic.” Out of the 25 people that were hospitalized, 11 of which were in cardiac arrest at the time.
Pena added that Astroworld’s medical tent and staff was “quickly overwhelmed” by the scale of the incident, after which the Houston fire department stepped in and dispatched 50 units. The second day of Astroworld was canceled as a result of the tragedy.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner confirmed at a press conference that took place on Saturday (November 6th) that there were eight fatalities from the concert, and that the ages of seven of those who died ranged from 14-27 years old. One male victim of the incident was yet to be identified.
TRAVIS SCOTT, KYLIE JENNER AND REPS FOR ASTROWORLD RELEASE STATEMENTS
Reps for Astroworld released a statement, saying, “Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight – especially those we lost and their loved ones. We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind the festival will no longer be held on Saturday.”
Travis also released a statement, saying, “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.” He later released a video, saying, “I just want to send out prayers to the ones that was lost last night.” He continued, saying that he had no idea what was going on in crowd, saying that he could “just never imagine the severity of the situation.” He added, “I’m honestly just devastated. I could never imagine anything like this happening.”
Kylie Jenner also released a statement on Instagram, saying that both she and Scott were “unaware of any fatalities” until after the concert ended. She added that they were “devastated” adding, “In no world would we have continued filming or performing.”
TRAVIS SCOTT CRITICIZED FOR PERFORMING DURING STAMPEDE
Travis has been criticized for performing for over 35 minutes while the stampede was happening. According to Rap-Up, reports say that the rapper stopped the show after noticing some of the fans in the front seemed in distress. He told security to make sure they weren’t hurt and asked medics to help one person. During this time, the crowd began chanting “stop the show.” Prior to the surge, Travis was on stage with Drake.
Meanwhile, an unconfirmed report from TMZ claimed that someone in the crowd began injecting people with some sort of drug. Authorities are trying to determine if those who went into cardiac arrest were the ones injected. A source, described as a “key person involved in the festival,” says it appears to be a targeted attack.
TRAVIS SCOTT AND LIVE NATION SUED
Travis and Live Nation have been sued by a man named Manuel Souza, who has claimed to have been injured during the concert. Souza filed the suit on Saturday (November 6th) in Harris County District Court, alleging both negligence and gross negligence on behalf of Travis, Live Nation and others.
Souza says the tragedy was “predictable and preventable” — due, in part, to what he characterizes as warning signs earlier in the day that he says should’ve been red flags to festival organizers but were ignored.
He went on to allege that concert organizers made a conscious effort to let the show go on, despite clear evidence all around them that people were in serious distress and suffering “serious obvious injury.”
Souza is suing for at least a million dollars in damages.
A second lawsuit has now been filed against Scott, Live Nation and also Drake. A person named Kristian Paredes is suing Trav, Drake and LN for negligence as well — claiming that Travis’ concert history should’ve been at the forefront of everyone’s mind who helped plan and execute Astroworld this year. In their doc, obtained by TMZ, Paredes has claimed Travis and Drake helped incite the crowd that night, suggesting they either were aware or should’ve been aware of the reaction the crowd would have and did have once they both took the stage … which Paredes claimed ended up causing a massive surge that resulted in injury.
Paredes is also seeking at least a million dollars in damages.