The ten people killed at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival all died as a result of “compression asphyxia,” the Harris County Medical Examiner announced in a report released on Thursday.
Compression asphyxia is caused when respiration is prevented by external pressure on the body, limiting oxygen supply to the lungs. Such was the case when the densely packed crowd at Astroworld surged to the stage, causing numerous individuals to become crushed and trampled.
Only one of the victims had drugs in their system at the time of their death, which the medical examiner listed as a “contributing factor.”
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The ten victims ranged in age from nine to 27 years old.
Last week, Scott sat down for his first interview since the incident. Speaking to Charlamagne Tha God, the rapper claimed he “didn’t know” that Astroworld was a “mass casualty event” until after the first police press conference. Had he been aware of the events within the crowd, Scott said he would have stopped the show. “It’s so crazy because I’m that artist too — anytime you can hear something like that, you want to stop the show. You want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need,” he stated. “You can only help what you can see and whatever you’re told, whenever they tell you to stop, you stop,” Scott added.
Despite Scott’s claims of ignorance, the rapper is a co-defendant in nearly 300 civil lawsuits, seeking nearly $3 billion in damages. He recently took the first step in dismissing these suits by issuing a “general denial.” In the interview with Charlamagne, Scott said his role at Astroworld was solely focused on the creative aspect and he relied on the “professionals to make sure people are taken care of and leaving safely.” The festival was promoted by Live Nation and Scoremore.
As a result of the tragedy, Scott was dropped as a headliner at next year’s Coachella. It was also recently announced that Scott’s Cacti hard seltzer had been discontinued by manufacturer Anheuser-Busch after less than a year on the market.
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