Crowd Crush Kills Eight at Astroworld Festival
Music

Crowd Crush Kills Eight at Astroworld Festival

At least eight people died and several others were injured at Travis Scott'sAstroworld Festival concert on Friday night.

About 50,000 people were present at the sold-out show, held outdoors at Houston's NRG Park. According to officials, at around 9 PM when Scott was performing, the crowd surged towards the stage and squeezed members of the audience who had nowhere to escape. This caused panic and worsened the situation.

Attendees have been circulating disturbing images and videos on social media, showing just how horrific the incident was.

Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña told CNN that authorities transported about 23 people in serious condition, 11 of them critical. Of those 23, eight people died, and aside from those taken to the hospital, more than 300 people were also treated at a field hospital set up near the festival.

The two-day event has already been cut short due to the grave turn of events.

Organizers released a statement on Saturday morning, saying, "Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight — especially those we lost and their loved ones." They added, "We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind, the festival will no longer be held on Saturday."

​Travis Scott also released a statement on Saturday. "I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival,” he wrote. “I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.”

Earlier that day, there was another incident at the concert wherein people rushed through a VIP entrance to the event and at least one person was injured. Back in 2019, during Scott's second year of organizing the Astroworld Festival, many fans were also injured from a stampede.

Photo via Getty