The chaos is said to have occurred at the Astroworld festival in Houston, organized by the American rapper Travis Scott, when the rapper himself was on stage.
– This is a tragic night, says fire chief Samuel Peña at a press conference on Saturday morning Norwegian time.
According to Peña, chaos and panic broke out when the audience began to push themselves towards the stage around 21.15 on Friday night. In the ensuing tribulation, several people are said to have been trampled and crushed to death.
CHAOS: The Astroworld Festival is hosted by rapper Travis Scott, and several great artists are on the program for the festival. Here Scott is on stage Friday night American time. Photo: Amy Harris / Invision / AP / NTB
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– This led to panic, and caused some injuries. People fell, became unconscious, and this led to further panic, the fire chief said at a press conference on Saturday morning.
Houston police officer Larry Satterwhite tells NBC News that he was standing near the stage when the chaos occurred. He says the situation escalated rapidly.
– It seems as if this happened in just a few minutes. Suddenly we had several people who fell to the ground with cardiac arrest or some form of malaise. We immediately started with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he says.
A video from the concert on Friday night shows that the rapper Scott stops to call for help.
– Security guards, someone must help here quickly. Come on, come on, says Scott from the scene in the video.
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Many injured
In addition to the deaths of eight people, several people are injured.
According to fire chief Peña, more than 300 people received treatment at a field hospital in the festival area after the incident. 23 people have been transported to hospital – eleven of them with cardiac arrest.
He calls it a “chaotic event.”
– Over 55 units responded to this event, and it comes on top of people that the organizers had in place for the event.
However, the crew was quickly overwhelmed, says Peña.
URBAN PANIC: The audience is said to have pushed themselves towards the stage when the American rapper Travis Scott had a concert on Friday night. Photo: Amy Harris / Invision / AP / NTB
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– Could not have dreamed of this
The tragic incident is now under investigation by the police.
– No one could have dreamed of this, but now we are here, and it is important that we do not speculate. No one has the answers tonight, police chief Troy Finner said at a press conference.
In addition to investigating the incident, the police are now working to identify the eight people who have so far been confirmed dead.
They encourage people who know they had family members present at the music festival on Friday night, and who have not heard from them since, to contact a relatives’ center set up in the city.
50,000 present
According to American media, the music festival was sold out, and around 50,000 people were present on Friday night when the music festival went off the rails for the third year in a row.
There must also have been similar conditions earlier Friday, when several people stormed towards the entrance to the festival, writes KPRC of Houston, according to NBC. Several people are said to have been injured in the crowd.
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