HOUSTON – A night to remember quickly turned to a tragedy at rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival on Friday in Houston.
According to officials, eight people died and a total of 25 were hospitalized. However, as of around 4:30 p.m., Saturday, 13 remained in the hospital.
The Houston mayor, police chief, fire chief, and county judge spoke after being briefed on the musical festival deaths and injuries. They said there are still a lot of questions to be answered and the investigations are ongoing.
They’re also still waiting on autopsies to determine the victims’ causes of death but have said they are looking into multiple narratives, such as a crowd surge, concert-goers getting trampled, and possible drug activity of a person injecting others with drugs.
“We do have a report of a security officer, according to the medical staff that was out and treated him last night that he was reaching over to restrain or grab a citizen that he felt a prick... When he was examined, he went unconscious. They administered Narcan,” said Houston police chief Troy Finner.
Astroworld attendee Max Levy said he saw the chaos, but that it seemed like the norm for a Travis Scott performance.
“Bodies were getting pulled over into the VIP section, like backstage. I mean as soon as I walked in, one guy ran out and threw up right next to me. People were crying,” said Levy.
At the time, he was enjoying the show and had no idea of the tragedy unfolding.
“He has references to mosh pits in at least two of his songs. He talks about mosh pits in his shows. You know what to expect with that crowd -- people are going to get rowdy. He stopped the show five times, also to his benefit,” said Levy.
Event organizers with Live Nation and Travis Scott have said they will fully cooperate with the investigations.
