Investigations into a deadly stampede at a Houston rap concert have been leaked by Reuters

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) – At least two investigations, one of them criminal, were underway Sunday at rap star Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens in Houston.

Houston officials said Friday’s victims were undergoing autopsies as soon as possible to return their bodies to relatives to reveal the identities of some of the dead on Sunday.

The dead were young, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters Saturday: two were 14 and 16 years old, two were 21, two were 23, and a seventh was 27.

The eighth victim is yet to be identified, he added.

Harris County Judge Lina Hildago called for an “objective and independent” investigation into the tragedy, which she said was attended by 50,000 fans when the rap festival took place.

“Maybe the plans weren’t right. Maybe the plans were good but they weren’t followed,” Hildago said. “The families of the dead, all those affected, deserve answers.”

In a 90-second video released on Twitter (NYSE 🙂 on Saturday, Scott said that while he was on stage, “I didn’t imagine the seriousness of the situation.” He described the incident as “completely devastating”.

Houston City Police Chief Troy Finner said his department had opened a criminal investigation by homicide and narcotics detectives who reported that someone in the audience was injecting drugs.

The city’s fire chief, Samuel Pena, said several drugs that go to concerts had to be revived with the drug Narcan, including a security guard who allegedly injected a substance in the neck of a concert fan.

The rest of the two-day festival was canceled at the NRG Park disaster around 9:30 p.m., when it premiered at the end of the Scott Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter’s debut.

The deaths occurred near the scene as the crowd approached, with some suffering heart arrests and other medical trauma, authorities said.