Travis Scott addressed the horrific events that took place during his Astroworld Festival at Houston’s NRG Park on Friday evening. The Associated Press reported at least eight people died and hundreds suffered injuries in what Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña described as a “mass casualty incident.”
As the AP reported, the incident began when hip hop artist Travis Scott took the stage at the two-day, sold-out festival with approximately 50,000 people in attendance. The crowd surged forward as a timer counted down to Scott’s performance “squeezing fans so tightly together that they could not breathe or move their arms,” the AP reported.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing. While causes of death and the names of the dead have not been revealed, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said that the dead range in age from 14 to 27 and that 13 people were still hospitalized as of Saturday. He called the incident “a tragedy on many different levels.”
Scott himself also addressed the terrible occurrence via social media on Saturday in both a statement and a video. “I’m honestly just devastated,” Travis said. “We’re actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time,” the rapper explained. See both the written statement and video below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CV8R4s3L-c_/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CV9UvUcDvir/
While Astroworld was originally slated as a two-day event, organizers canceled the remainder of the festival after Friday night’s incident.
— ASTROWORLD FEST (@astroworldfest) November 6, 2021
Watch a report from CNN that includes eyewitness accounts:
