8 died and many injured at Texas music festival

At least eight people have died, and many people have been hurt after a surge of crowds at the opening night of a Texas music festival in Houston. Panic started taking place as the crowd tried to press towards the front of the stage. The stage was set for the Astroworld Festival of Travis Scott.

11 people have been admitted to the hospitals due to cardiac arrest. Eight have died. At least 300 people have been injured with cuts, bruises. 50000 people have attended the program. Local politician Lina Hidalgo, the county judge of Harris County, has described what has happened that night.

“Our hearts are broken,” she said. “People go to these events looking for a good time, a chance to unwind, to make memories – it’s not the kind of event you go to where you expect to find out about fatalities.”

The incident started around 21:15 on Frida. The crowd started to compress more towards the front area of the stage. People then started to panic. The crash started causing injury to people with the growth of panic. Travis Scott has founded this festival. He stopped multiple times during his 75 minutes. Then he spotted fans in distress in front of his stage.

The rapper asked the security to ensure that they were ok and to further help the crowd.  A video of the concert shows that fans are jumping on an emergency vehicle in the crowd. Organizers halted that Texas music festival when it became apparent that many people had been hurt. But the scale of casualties has overwhelmed the medical facilities.

Judge Hidalgo said that many of them who have been killed were young. The reunification at the Wyndham Houston Hotel was for those families who have not heard from their persons.

This incident canceled the second and final day of this festival.

“Nobody could dream of this,” said Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner. “But we’re here, and I think it’s very important that none of us speculate. Nobody has all the answers tonight.”

The organizer, Live Nation, did not make any immediate response to a commenting request. Astroworld held at NRG park since 2018 didn’t happen due to a pandemic. Travis Scott made his breakthrough in 2013. He has a child with Kylie Jenner.

Credits: BBC