Written by Jack Miller
Last weekend, the Astroworld Festival was held in Houston’s NRG Park. The music festival was showcasing many popular musicians and was headlined by Travis Scott. This festival was planned as a weekend-long event, but it was cancelled on Friday evening. During one of the opening sets, the crowd surged towards the stage which resulted in the death of 8 people and sent 300 people to a field hospital set up near the festival. The reason for the surging crowd is still under investigation, the management of the festival have allowed Houston police to conduct an investigation as to the source of the panic.
What is known right now is that 50,000 people were in attendance at the festival on Friday. Shortly after 9:00 PM, attendants say that people began pushing and running towards the stage, leaving those in the middle and the front to be pinned up against the barricades. Organizers of the event have not released information as to the reason for the panic, and local authorities have not released any current statements as to the cause of the rush.
The medical examiners have not yet come to determine the cause of death following the autopsy report, but witnesses have reported many different accounts of the events. Witnesses say that it began all at once; following the initial rush, people began falling and that’s when the panic ensued. Videos have appeared online showing crowds jumping barriers and rushing past security at the entrance of the festival. Videos have also shown the incident directly in Scott’s performance, pausing multiple times to point out crowd members who appeared to be passed out and requested medical assistance from security.
Information will continue to be released during this week surrounding the events at the Astroworld Festival. Many concertgoers were treated for cardiac arrest, but the causes are not yet known. Event organizers have reported that they are supporting local officials however they can, Travis Scott has issued a statement calling the tragedy devastating. The rest of the festival has been cancelled for this year.
