The crowd at a Houston music festival suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott, squeezing fans so tightly together that they could not breathe or move their arms and killing eight people in the chaos.
The pandemonium unfolded Friday evening at Astroworld, a sold-out, two-day event in NRG Park with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance. As a timer clicked down to the start of the performance, the crowd pushed forward.
B次元官网网址淎s soon as he jumped out on the stage, it was like an energy took over and everything went haywire,B次元官网网址� concertgoer Niaara Goods said. B次元官网网址淎ll of a sudden, your ribs are being crushed. You have someoneB次元官网网址檚 arm in your neck. YouB次元官网网址檙e trying to breathe, but you canB次元官网网址檛.B次元官网网址�
Goods said she was so desperate to get out that she bit a man on the shoulder to get him to move.
The dead ranged in age from 14 to 27, and 13 people were still hospitalized Saturday, Mayor Sylvester Turner said. He called the disaster B次元官网网址渁 tragedy on many different levelsB次元官网网址� and said it was too early to draw conclusions about what went wrong.
B次元官网网址淚t may well be that this tragedy is the result of unpredictable events, of circumstances coming together that couldnB次元官网网址檛 possibly have been avoided,B次元官网网址� said Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris CountyB次元官网网址檚 top elected official. B次元官网网址淏ut until we determine that, I will ask the tough questions.B次元官网网址�
Experts who have studied say they are often a result of density B次元官网网址� too many people packed into a small space. The crowd is often running either away from a perceived threat or toward something they want, such as a performer, before hitting a barrier.
G. Keith Still, a visiting professor of crowd science at the United KingdomB次元官网网址檚 University of Suffolk, has testified as an expert witness in court cases involving crowds. He said he usually does not look at eyewitness reports in the early stages of analyzing an incident because emotions can cloud the picture, and witnesses can see only whatB次元官网网址檚 immediately around them.
Based on fire codes, the venue could have held 200,000 people, but city officials limited the attendance to 50,000, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pe帽a said.
B次元官网网址淚t was the crowd control at the point of the stage that was the issue, especially as the crowd began to surge toward the stage,B次元官网网址� Pe帽a said.
The deaths called to mind as thousands of fans tried to get into CincinnatiB次元官网网址檚 Riverfront Coliseum. Other include the deaths of 97 people in an overcrowded Hillsborough Stadium in 1989 in Sheffield, England, and numerous disasters connected with the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia.
People in the Houston crowd reported lots of pushing and shoving during the performances leading up to ScottB次元官网网址檚 set.
Then when Scott took the stage, the crowd seemed to rush to the front, trying to get closer to the stage, said Nick Johnson, a high school senior from the Houston suburb of Friendswood who was at the concert.
B次元官网网址淓veryone was passing out around you, and everyone was trying to help each other. But you just couldnB次元官网网址檛 move. You couldnB次元官网网址檛 do anything. You canB次元官网网址檛 even pick your arms up,B次元官网网址� Johnson said. B次元官网网址淚t just got worse and worse.B次元官网网址�
Johnson said fans started to crush each other, and people started screaming. He said it felt like 100 degrees in the crowd.
Scott seemed to be aware that something was going on in the crowd, but he might not have understood the severity of the situation, Johnson said.
On video posted to social media, Scott could be seen stopping the concert at one point and asking for aid for someone in the audience: B次元官网网址淪ecurity, somebody help real quick.B次元官网网址�
In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was B次元官网网址渁bsolutely devastated by what took place last night.B次元官网网址� He pledged to work B次元官网网址渢ogether with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.B次元官网网址�
Amy Harris, a freelance photographer for The Associated Press, described an B次元官网网址渁ggressiveB次元官网网址� crowd atmosphere throughout the day because of the way fans were behaving B次元官网网址� pushing and rushing the stage barricades and prohibited VIP and admission areas.
B次元官网网址淚t was definitely the most chaotic festival environment that IB次元官网网址檝e been in,B次元官网网址� Harris said. B次元官网网址淚 felt uneasy all day.B次元官网网址�
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said his department noticed attendees B次元官网网址済oing downB次元官网网址� at 9:30 p.m. and immediately notified concert organizers. The event was called off 40 minutes later after discussions that included the fire department and officials with NRG Park.
Finner defended the amount of time it took for the event to be canceled.
B次元官网网址淵ou cannot just close when youB次元官网网址檝e got 50,000 B次元官网网址� over 50,000 B次元官网网址� individuals, OK?B次元官网网址� Finner said. B次元官网网址淲e have to worry about rioting B次元官网网址� riots B次元官网网址� when you have a group thatB次元官网网址檚 that young.B次元官网网址�
At one point, Gerardo Abad-Garcia was pressed so tightly into the crowd that he could not move his arms off his chest. During the performance that came before ScottB次元官网网址檚, he started getting concerned for his safety.
B次元官网网址淚 just couldnB次元官网网址檛 breathe. I was being compressed,B次元官网网址� he said. A security guard helped him and others climb a fence and get out.
He described the crowd during ScottB次元官网网址檚 set as a wave that was B次元官网网址済oing forward and backward.B次元官网网址� He said some people tried to help those who were passed out on the ground, while other concertgoers seemed to ignore them and continued watching the show.
Some audience members said barricades erected near the stage and to separate different sections of ticket holders prevented fans from escaping.
Billy Nasser described an area created by a stage barricade as a closet that people were thrown into and the door was shut. Joshua Robinson said the barricades created an area that B次元官网网址渨as just way too small and compactB次元官网网址� for the number of people there.
Part of the investigation will include reviewing how the area around the stage was designed, the fire chief said.
Authorities did not disclose the causes of death, and the dead were not immediately identified.
The police chief said authorities were investigating reports of suspicious activity in the crowd, including a security officer who told police that he felt a prick in his neck during the chaos and lost consciousness while being examined by first responders. He was revived by the opioid antidote Narcan.
Scott, one of musicB次元官网网址檚 biggest young stars, founded the Astroworld Festival in 2018. The 29-year-old Houston native has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. He has a 3-year-old daughter with Kylie Jenner, who announced in September that sheB次元官网网址檚 pregnant with their second child.
Drake joined Scott on-stage at the concert, which was livestreamed by Apple Music.
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Associated Press writers Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Stan Choe in New York, David Sharp in Portland, Maine, and Desiree Seals in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Juan A. Lozano , The Associated Press
