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Trigger Warning: The following piece contains mentions of death and mass injury
On 5 November 2021, Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert turned into a mass tragedy as it left several injured and multiple dead following a huge stampede at the Houston venue.
At least eight people were reported dead and more than 300 injured at the time of writing. Officials declared the scene as a “mass casualty incident” shortly after emergency officers noticed a crown surge around 9.00pm.
Nearly 17 people were immediately hospitalized, of which around 11 suffered cardiac arrest. Houston fire chief Samuel Pena informed that the sold-out event had around 50,000 attendees and the incident occurred when the crowd started “compressing” towards the stage, creating “panic” and “distress”:
“The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries. People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.”
Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite added that the situation was sudden and came without warning:
“Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode. And so we immediately started doing CPR, and moving people right then, and that’s when I went and met with the promoters, and Live Nation, and they agreed to end early in the interest of public safety.”
No exact cause behind the sudden surge of crowds has been revealed so far. However, an investigation into the incident is currently underway.
Astroworld attendees share horrific concert experiences on Twitter
The mass incident at Travis Scott’s Houston concert has left attendees and fans in complete shock. Thousands of people witnessed the unexpected tragedy unfold as the mass stampede claimed lives and caused severe injuries.
The vibrant concert venue soon turned into a site of casualties with medical crises, emergency vehicles, flashing lights, alarms and the loss of loved ones. Footage from the fest showed people rushing and cramming into each other amid rising injuries, as the rapper continued to perform on stage.
As per the Houston Chronicle, Travis Scott paused his performance several times upon noticing growing distress within the crowd and asked security for help. Following the incident, several eye-witnesses took to Twitter to share their tragic experience from the festival:
As many continue to mourn the tragedy on social media, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner has requested citizens to refrain from speculating about the cause behind the event:
“I think it's very important that none of us speculate. Nobody has all the answers tonight. We're going to do an investigation and find out because it's not fair to the producers, to anybody else involved, until we determine what happened, what caused the surge. We don't know, but we will find out.”
The two-day event has also been called off in the wake of the tragedy. Meanwhile, a reunification center has been established in Wyndham Houston for those who have failed to contact their family members following the incident.
