About 50,000 people were gathered at Houston’s NRG Park on Friday night.
The authorities of Texas investigating this Saturday the tragedy that occurred the day before in a gigantic rap concert, in which Eight people died and at least 17 were injured.
Around 50,000 people were gathered in the NRG Park de Houston Friday night when the crowd began to push onto the stage as the artist Travis Scott was acting, which triggered chaotic scenes.
“I saw people jump over barriers and they couldn’t breathe, it was horrible,” Gavyn Flores, who attended Scott’s concert and stood near a barricade without being able to move for hours, told AFP on Saturday.
“People were trying to get out but they couldn’t move,” explained the 18-year-old.
The head of the Houston firefighters, Samuel Peña, told a news conference that The crowd began to crowd the front of the stage. This created a movement of panic that caused people to be injured ”.
Eight people died and between 17 and 23 were injured, said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Turner told CNN that authorities are watching video footage, speaking to witnesses, concert organizers and people who were hospitalized.
“We are analyzing everything,” he said.
Houston is regularly home to big concerts, he said, but “there has never been anything like this.”
More than 300 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries on the first night of the two-day Astroworld Festival, which Scott helped organize, authorities said.
Scott stopped his act multiple times when he saw fans in distress near the stage, the Houston Chronicle, a local outlet, reported.
Scott “devastated”
Survivors described chaotic scenes, with people crushed and others struggling to breathe.
“People were being pushed, trampled, and when I struggled to get out of there, I saw people on the ground,” Logan Morris, a Dallas resident who attended the show, told AFP.
“I am absolutely devastated by what happened last night,” Scott tweeted on Saturday. “My prayers are with the families and all those affected by what happened at the Astroworld Festival.”
More of 360 police officers and 240 security guards were present for the festival.
A Harris County official, Lina Hidalgo, said it was “An extremely tragic night.”
“We are heartbroken, people go to these events to have a good time, to make memories,” he added.
“Some kind of cardiac arrest”
Houston police said events unfolded quickly.
“Within just a few minutes, all of a sudden, several people experienced some kind of cardiac arrest,” said Deputy Chief of Police Larry Satterwhite.
Videos circulating on social media show paramedics resurrecting passed out people as the concert continued.
Other images posted on social media showed dozens of people pouncing on doors, while security guards are unable to contain the flow.
Several people can also be seen falling, knocking down the metal detectors at the stadium entrance, although it is unclear if that incident is related to the deaths.
The organizers of Astroworld they canceled the rest of the festival, which was scheduled to continue on Saturday.
Astroworld is a music festival created by Scott himself in 2018. The 29-year-old rapper, who has a son with reality star Kylie Jenner, became known in 2013 and has had six Grammy nominations.
During the weekend other concerts were scheduled like that of the rappers Chief Keef and 21 Savage, and the Australian rock group Tame Impala.
As Scott performed late on Friday, he was joined onstage by Canadian rap superstar Drake. (I)
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