Officials confirm eight people, including two teens, are among the dead after Houston music festival stampede
Travis Scott performs at Day 1 of the Astroworld Music Pageant at NRG Park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston.
Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Officers confirmed that eight individuals, together with a fourteen and sixteen 12 months previous, died and 25 others have been hospitalized on the Astroworld music pageant on Friday in Houston.
Seven of the victims ranged from 14 to 27 years previous, Mayor Sylvester Turner mentioned throughout a Saturday afternoon press convention. One sufferer’s age couldn’t be decided.
Of the 25 those who have been transported to the hospital, 5 have been underneath the age of 18. 13 individuals are nonetheless hospitalized, the mayor added. Nobody is reported lacking.
Crowds started to assemble round 9 p.m. native time for a efficiency by rapper and pageant founder Travis Scott. Concertgoers pushed towards the entrance of the stage previous to the beginning of the live performance, resulting in panic and a few accidents. The mayhem escalated till 9:38 p.m. when a “mass casualty incident” was triggered, Houston Fireplace Chief Samuel Peña mentioned early Saturday. The reason for demise was not but recognized for the eight victims.
Scott, who launched the pageant in his hometown in 2018, mentioned he was “completely devastated.”
“Houston PD has my complete help as they proceed to look into the tragic lack of life,” he mentioned in a tweet. “I’m dedicated to working along with the Houston neighborhood to heal and help the households in want.”
Round 50,000 individuals have been presupposed to attend the pageant, NBC News reported. The occasion was presupposed to final by way of Saturday, however officers canceled the second day following the stampede.
Rumors additionally swirled on social media that unknown individuals have been injecting different patrons with medicine, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner mentioned.
He added the company has a report of 1 safety officer who was reaching to seize a citizen and handed out after feeling a prick in his neck. Finner mentioned the officer was revived with Narcan, a typical drug used to deal with narcotic overdoses in emergencies, and was later discovered to have a prick constant as “if somebody was making an attempt to inject.”
The investigation into what occurred on the occasion and led to the casualties remains to be ongoing.
“This incident is being totally investigated and reviewed totally. It can be crucial for us to establish from final night time what passed off, what occurred, the place missteps could have occurred,” Mayor Turner mentioned.
