Popular musician Travis Scott’s “Astroworld” Festival in his hometown of Houston turned deadly when concertgoers died as crowds swarmed the stage. It is one of the deadliest crowd disasters in the United States. Seven males and three females were killed by suffocation as they were trampled upon. 300 others were injured. The youngest of the victims was only 9 years-old.
The concert was a sellout and many concertgoers arrived four hours before the concert was set to start. The coliseum in which the concert was being held had 18,000 seats. As Travis took the stage at 9 P.M. an usher stated that someone threw a bottle at the outside gate which ultimately broke the door’s glass. The usher continued to state that more attendees participated in breaking the gates. They eventually started to push their way in through the broken gates and as the flow of people rushed in the crowd they could not be stopped.
A criminal investigation is underway and many lawsuits have been filed against Scott and the promoter of the concert – Live Nation. Each civil suit seeks over $1 million dollars in damages. Scott and mega star Drake, whom Scott was performing with during the tragedy, got hit with a $750 million lawsuit. Scott made an announcement stating, “I am absolutely devastated by what took place last night.” He has made a pledge to help the families financially by paying for funeral costs. Many have joined in on the lawsuit claiming that more could have been done to prevent the tragedy. Scott is no longer allowed to perform in the Las Vegas festival – Day N Vegas; rapper Post Malone will step in for Scott instead.
Many feel that Scott, Live Nation and other promoters put profits over the safety of those who attended. The ongoing criminal investigation will take some time to paint the full picture as to what happened that night, and what safety measures should have been in place. Many looked forward to this two-day festival, and for some, it was their first opportunity to attend a concert. Unfortunately it took a turn no one expected and many lives have been forever changed.
