Tragedy struck at the Astroworld festival last night when a crowd surge resulted in the death of eight people and at least 300 injuries. The festival’s founder Travis Scott issued a statement on Twitter in light of the incident.
“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,” he wrote. “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,” the rapper added. “Love You All.”
Houston Fire Department Chief Samuel Peña said at a press conference that trouble starting shortly after 9 p.m. local time when “the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage and that caused some panic and started causing some injuries. People began to fall out and become unconscious and that created additional panic.” This resulted in the “mass casualty” event, which occurred at 9:38 p.m. With an estimated crowd of 50,000 people, the festival’s medical tent and staff were “quickly overwhelmed” by the incident’s scale and called in the Houston fire department, which dispatched 50 units. Seventeen people were taken to hospitals, 11 of which were in cardiac arrest.
Travis Scott was performing when the tragedy occurred and has canceled the Saturday portion of the Houston-based festival.
“Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight – especially those we lost and their loved ones,” festival reps said in a statement. “We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind the festival will no longer be held on Saturday. As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this, please reach out to @HoustonPolice. Thank you to our partners at the Houston Police Department, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their response and support.”
