Travis Scott has issued a statement about the tragedy during his concert at the Astroworld festival in Texas. In a crowd surge on the first day, eight people died and several were injured. Almost 50,000 people attended the show, according to the Houston Chronicle.
In his statement, Travis wrote, “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.”
The statement continued, “Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All.”
During a press conference, Houston fire chief Samuel Peña said that the crowd surge started around 9 PM and Scott reportedly paused his performance several times to ask the officials to help fans. The fire department attempted to rescue people from the crowd as well. Variety staff member Emanuel Okusanya, who was present at the event, said that ‘multiple mosh pits’ broke out in the audience during the performance.
An attendee, Angel Rodriguez, told The New York Times, “Travis Scott, he took pauses to point at the crowd to say, like, ‘Go help them — they’re passed out. He did it like three times. He pointed to the area where it was and said for everybody in the area to go help them and bring them to the front.”
Angel added that several fans had gathered near the exits as well and that might have made it harder to exit from those points, creating a ‘bottleneck’. One Nick Johnson told the publication that Travis Scott kept the concert going, “I just don’t think he realized what was happening.”
Chief Peña added that 23 people were hospitalised by emergency responders and 11 suffered from cardiac arrests. Over 300 people were also treated at a field hospital.
Kylie Jenner is facing flak on social media for posting a video from the event on Instagram, which also shows an ambulance making its way through the crowds. Jenner is expecting her second child with Scott.
Astroworld festival is a two day event which Travis Scott started in 2018 and named it after one of his albums. The lineup this year included Tame Impala, Earth Wind & Fire, Roddy Rich, and Yves Tumor. The second day of the festival has reportedly been cancelled.
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