What is a crowd surge? Understanding what happened at Travis Scott's Astroworld concert as tragedy toll rises

As Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert death toll increases, it has become evident that an uncontrollable crowd surge is to blame. It has been reported that over 300 people were injured at the event in NRG Park, Houston which also included a 10-year-old.

The tragic incident took place after 50,000 people attended the concert. The crowd reportedly became chaotic after Travis Scott took the stage.

At the time of the crowd surge, the 30-year-old rapper was performing on stage. He took to his Instagram profile later on to speak about the Astroworld tragedy. He said:

“I’m honestly just devastated”

He also added that his team was working towards identifying the families so that they could “assist them through the tough time.”

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Travis Scott’s Astroworld “crowd surge” explained

Online reports state that a crowd surge takes place due to the lack of space. While organizing any event, it is important to keep in mind that the density of the crowd should be based on the size of the venue. There should be a large space for everyone in said crowd to move freely.

If a crowd surge does take place, people die due to the lack of oxygen and not necessarily because they get trampled over.

Considering Travis Scott’s immense popularity and the anticipation for the event, authorities should have been prepared and taken the necessary precautions to ensure that a crowd surge could not have taken place.

Concertgoers must have found it hard to breathe as crowd surges increase pressure in an area. People may have also suffocated from the force of of falling on top of each other.

While detailing what a crowd surge victim could potentially go through, Mark Conroy, MD from The Ohio State University, said in an interview:

“Often, people get injured when they either fall or lose consciousness in the midst of the crowd surge.”

He added:

“Getting help to the person can often be delayed.”

Speaking of how a crowd surge comes into being, crowd science expert G. Kieth Still said in an interview:

“As crowd density—the number of people in a given area—reaches the point of everyone in close contact, the crowd can begin swaying. Any sudden movement in a high-density crowd can result in a surge and progressive crowd collapse.”

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Astroworld organizers unprepared for crowd surge

Though Travis Scott’s event organizers were prepared to respond to tornadoes, extreme heat, bomb threats, earthquakes and active shooters, it became evident that they were not prepared for a crowd surge.

Travis Scott's concert organizers unprepared for crowd surge (Image via Invision)

The 56-page document never once mentioned the possibility of such mayhem to occur and precautions which would have to be taken if such an event took place at Astroworld.

NPR also reported that the Astroworld staff were told to “never use the term "dead" or "deceased" over the radio” if a fatality occurred. They were to notify the event controllers by using the code "smurf."

Houston law enforcement is currently investigating the Astroworld tragedy. Civil lawsuits against Travis Scott and concert organizers have been filed as well.