Astroworld Fest in Houston is a rap/hip-hop music festival scheduled to take place throughout the weekend from November 4th to 5th, but it suffered unexpected damage on the first night.
From ABC 13 Houston:
Authorities said eight people died on Friday night and hundreds were injured on the opening night of a popular weekend music festival in NRG Park.
It happened in the third year Astronomy Festival, A sold-out concert event, including multiple acts.
The theme of the third annual music festival was “Open your eyes to see a whole new world”, and about 50,000 spectators attended the concert. When the music festival founder and rapper Travis Scott unexpectedly appeared on the stage with hip-hop artist Drake, the transition to chaos took place.
According to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña, the most serious incident occurred around 9:15pm, when approximately 50,000 concert audiences began to move towards the front of the stage.
“The crowd began to squeeze toward the front of the stage, and people began to panic,” Peña said.
The scene seen from the sky above the eye on Friday night showed that the police and fire departments in the area had very frequent activities because the organizers ended the event early. According to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, organizer and rapper Travis Scott and LiveNation stopped the show when it was apparent that many people were injured.
Officials in Houston and Harris County are trying to piece together how the tragedy happened late Friday night.
Although the deadliest moment occurred after 9:30 pm, Peña said that since the beginning of the incident, more than 300 patients have been treated in field hospitals, including those injured at the worst moments. Although the names and ages of the casualties are not known, Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo said that one of the victims was only 10 years old.
Peña said that medical staff from the Houston Fire Department and Harris County transported 23 people to the hospital, of which 17 patients were taken away in the worst ordeal. Peña also said that 11 victims must be subjected to cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Peña said that HFD has 55 units serving the festival.
11 people were confirmed dead and more than 300 people were injured. This is crazy and very disturbing! ! #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/z6hUTIhtUg
— ✞ (@MRDIORWRLD) November 6, 2021
The Astroworld Festival started in 2018 and is the childhood dream of Houston native, event founder and rapper Travis Scott. Covering 350 acres of NRG Park, the road where the event is located is separated from the original Astroworld theme park named for the festival by the highway. The 2021 event is highly anticipated, offering 100,000 tickets for the first time Sold out in minutes Date announced in November.
The last concert with unexpected tragedies and deaths was a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017.
