At the Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas, at least eight people died and hundreds were injured, officials and local authorities said. Panic broke out among the participants of the event organized by rapper Travis Scott after a crowd of 50,000 began to press on the stage.
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Many people were injured during the opening night of the big weekend Astroworld music festival in NRG Park, according to the Houston fire department. Around 9 p.m. on Friday local time, a crowd of around 50,000 people began to press towards the stage during the performance of rapper Travis Scott, the festival organizer. The chaos worsened, and panic broke out around 9:38 pm. Then the concert was interrupted.
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At least two people were resuscitated by the Houston fire department. Services report at least eight fatalities. At least 17 people were hospitalized, of which 11 suffered cardiac arrest. As reported by CNN, a field hospital was set up on the spot, in which 300 people were helped overnight.
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– It felt like we were at a concert in hell, you couldn’t breathe, you couldn’t see anything – one of the festival participants described the events on Friday night in a recording published on Twitter, quoted by Reuters.
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Astroworld Festival PAP / EPA / KEN MURRAY
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Problems with controlling the crowd
Already during the day, there were problems with controlling the crowd, there were scuffles at the entrance to the festival area. CNN reached the video of the opening of the gates to the concert field. You can see how many people crowded at the entrance. Fans rushing to the concert knocked over the equipment used by the festival’s security. Several people were already trampled by then, but no one was seriously injured. The tragedy happened a few hours later.
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At night, dozens of ambulances and many medics to help the victims appeared at the festival. The police also intervened.
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One of the concerts as part of the Astroworld Festival 2021Omar Vega/FilmMagic/Getty Images
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Travis Scott tried to interrupt the concert
It is not clear yet what exactly caused the tragedy. – I think it is very important that none of us speculate. Nobody knows all the answers today, said Houston Police Chief Troy Finner. He assured that both Travis Scott and the organizers were cooperating with the police.
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Hundreds of victims at the Astroworld music festivalTVN24, [2021 Cable News Network All Rights Reserved]
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The Houston Chronicle reported that Scott interrupted his 75-minute performance several times when he saw fans who might be in danger near the front of the stage. He also asked security to make sure everything was okay and help some people get out of the crowd. According to reports by the Houston Chronicle, emergency vehicles entered the crowd several times to reach those in need with help.
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Travis Scott ahead of the Houston Astros-Atlanta Braves game in Houston (photo from November 2)PAP / EPA / TANNEN MAURY
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Live Nation, the event organizer, has not commented on the matter yet. A short statement on this matter was posted on the festival’s Twitter profile. “We are focused on cooperation with the officers as much as we can. In view of these events, the festival cannot be held on Saturday,” we read. At the same time, they were asked to contact the police if they had important information that might help in the investigation.
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The fire department said a center has been set up for families who have no contact with loved ones at the Astroworld festival.
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The second day of the festival has been canceled
On the first day, 50,000 people showed up at the concert. The second day of the festival has been canceled. The concert area has been closed, and services are working on the site to determine the exact causes of the tragedy.
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“This is, of course, an unimaginably tragic night. We are broken hearts, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at the conference. But tonight’s focus must be on the families and the lives we’ve lost. Many of them were very young, she added. She reported that some of the victims were only 10 years old. It did not specify whether they were injured or fatalities.
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All 100,000 tickets for this year’s third edition of the festival have been sold out. The first one took place in 2018, and last year’s was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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