A criminal investigation was opened at a rap concert outside Houston, leaving Reuters with 8 dead

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) – A flight of fans on stage at rap star Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival has killed at least eight people and injured dozens as panic spread among young concert fans, authorities said on Saturday.

City Police Chief Troy Finner said his department has opened a criminal investigation into homicide and narcotics detectives after reports of unconfirmed that someone in the audience was “injecting drugs.”

The disaster occurred at NRG Park on Friday at around 9:30 p.m.

As the crowd of about 50,000 spectators ran out to the stage, people began to faint https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/travis-scotts-astroworld-concert-pauses-then-restarts -amid-deaths- lesuries-2021-11-06, some said they were apparently suffering from cardiac arrest or other medical problems outside the residence. A few minutes later the chaos was declared an “event of massive twists”.

“It happened on one side. It seemed to have happened … within minutes,” said Houston Police Assistant Chief of Staff Larry Satterwhite, who was in front of the event when the situation began.

Satterwhit said he immediately met with the promoters and agreed to stop the show. The concert ended at 10:10 p.m., officials said

Finner said there were reports suggesting that “some individuals were injecting drugs” among the “narratives” being investigated by police.

In a report that “he felt a blow to the neck” when a security guard involved was trying to apprehend or catch someone and then became unconscious, naloxone was revived with an opioid antidote dose, Finner said, citing a doctor’s account. the staff who cared for the officer.

Finner said staff also noticed what looked like a needle mark on the doctor’s neck.

It was unclear whether such an episode was suspected by authorities, but Finner said, “We’ll get to that.”

Police were waiting for autopsies to determine the cause of death, but said some victims were crushed.

Samuel Peña, the head of the City Fire Department, said that the hall had wide exit routes for fans and that there were no obstacles.

Twenty-five people were taken to hospital after being crushed in an ambulance, some of them in a cardiac arrest, 13 were still hospitalized on Saturday – five under the age of 18 – after the discharge of four patients, Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters. Eight people were killed. Most were between the ages of 14 and 27, although the age of a victim was not immediately known, Turner said.

‘IT FEELED LIKE A LIOT’

After mobbing the front doors and cargo booths earlier in the day, the crowd became more and more agitated https://www.reuters.com/world/us/countdown-clock-choke-points-led-chaos-houston-rap-concert-2021 -11-06 actors took to the stage, according to 19-year-old festival player Hamad Al Barrak.

“There were too many people,” Al Barra said, describing the chaos as he tried to buy festival equipment. “We were all cramped together. You felt like you couldn’t breathe.”

Albert Merza, a 43-year-old Detroit man with eight friends who attended the festival, said he saw “lots of drinks and crazy behavior.”

“It felt like a quarrel,” he said, adding that half of the people were under 21 years old. “There were people throwing things, objects flying everywhere.”

Nick Johnson, 17, said he saw a steady rise in disruptive behavior ahead of the stampede.

“It lasted more than two hours, and it got worse and worse,” he said.

On the same day, fans took control of an event that was “starting” at the festival doors fairly quickly, said Finner, the police chief, adding that it had nothing to do with the deadly stampede.

Finner said police were assigned 528 agents at the festival on Friday, along with 755 private security personnel.

Throughout the day, 25 arrests were made: one for possession of marijuana and public intoxication and the rest for theft, Finner said. According to the Peña, three hundred people were treated at the local medical clinic for various injuries and illnesses, including several apparent drug overdoses.

The hall could hold up to 200,000 people, but organizers limited it to 50,000 people, based on ticket sales, Peña said.

‘COMPLETELY DESTROYED’

Houston-born Scott said he was “completely devastated” and vowed to help police while they investigate.

“My prayers are for families and all those affected,” Scott wrote https://twitter.com/trvisXX/status/1457018948109705217 on Twitter (NYSE :).

The Peña described how the private doctor of the festival quickly overcame the oppression of the fans, a two-day account that would end on Saturday https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/deadly-texas-concert -crush-who-is-travis-scott -what-is-astroworld-2021-11-06, but was canceled after the tragedy on Friday night.

Videos posted on social media showed a pandemonium as fans and staff tried to pay attention to the injured concerts. In a video, fans were trying to inform the camera operator of the dangerous situation. In another video people waved to the stage and shouted “Stop show!”

It is likely that the research will focus on safety and security protocols. Two weeks ago, fans canceled another concert in Houston after being pushed to a Playboi Carti show that was taking place in the same complex at NRG Park.

Jennifer Ortega, 22, who arrived at Friday’s event around 1 p.m., said access had already been ordered. But by 4 p.m., the crowd at the two smallest stages of the festival had become “pretty irresponsible,” throwing people out of water bottles. He said he saw about three people coming out of the area with a bloody nose and missing teeth.

Organizers said they were cooperating with police.

“We’re focused on helping local officials as much as we can,” Astroworld Fest, an event hosted by Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE :), said on Twitter.

Scott stopped several times during his 75-minute performance when he saw fans overwhelmed and asked to ensure safety, as he showed videos posted online. Emergency vehicles, flashing lights and alarms, have cut off the public several times.

“We need to help someone. Someone broke up here,” Scott said, according to a video of his set, including an appearance by Canadian rapper Drake. “Security, someone, jump in here fast.”

In another video clip, police showed several people having a heart-lung resuscitation, even while playing music in the background.

Tragedy is a 1979 concert by British rock band The Who, where 11 people died when fans flocked to Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum before the event.

(Factbox: some of the worst stamps in the world https://www.reuters.com/world/some-worlds-worst-stampedes-2021-11-06)

Scott, who rose to fame in the early 2010s for his unique vocal style, has a daughter with Kylie Jenner of the famous Kardashian family. Astroworld is also the name of the third studio album released in 2018 to receive good reviews.