At least 8 dead at Astroworld music festival in Houston

The crowd at a Houston music festival 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, witnesses said Saturday, hours after at least eight people died in the chaos.

The pandemonium unfolded Friday evening at Astroworld, a sold-out, two-day event at the NRG Park stadium. An estimated 50,000 people were in attendance. It was not clear what set the crowd in motion.

Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said the crowd "began to compress towards the front of the stage," which triggered panic and caused some injuries. Then "people began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic."

Experts who have studied deaths caused by crowd surges say they are often a result of density â€" too many people packed into a small space. The pressure can crush victims and render them unable to breathe. The crowd is often running either away from a perceived threat or toward something they want, such as a performer, before hitting a barrier.

WATCH | Aftermath of deadly crowd surge: At least 8 dead at Astroworld music festival in Houston3 hours agoAt least eight people died and numerous others were injured in what officials described as a surge of the crowd at the Astroworld music festival in Houston while rapper Travis Scott was performing. 3:33

G. Keith Still, a visiting professor of crowd science at the University of Suffolk in England, has testified as an expert witness in court cases involving crowds. He said he usually does not look at eyewitness reports when in the early stages of analyzing an incident. That's because emotions can cloud the picture, and witnesses can see only what's immediately around them.

Pushing, shoving in crowd

People in the crowd reported lots of pushing and shoving during the performances leading up to Scott's set.

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 with friends.

Travis Scott performs at the Astroworld music festival at NRG Park in Houston on Friday. Officials say people were killed in a crowd surge during the performance. (Amy Harris/Invision/The Associated Press)

"It just got worse and worse. Everyone was like you just can't breathe," said Johnson, who was near the front of the stage in the middle part of the crowd.

He said fans started to crush each other, and people started screaming. He said it felt like 100 degrees in the crowd, which was so thick that he and his friends could not move.

"Everyone was passing out around you, and everyone was trying to help each other. But you just couldn't move. You couldn't do anything. You can't even pick your arms up," Johnson said.

Scott sought help

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: "Security, somebody help real quick."

In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was "absolutely devastated by what took place Friday night." He pledged to work "together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need."

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Houston police executive assistant chief Larry Satterwhite, who was near the front of the crowd, said the surge "happened all at once."

"Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode," he said. "And so we immediately started doing CPR and moving people right then."

Satterwhite said he quickly met with promoters, who agreed to end the event "in the interest of public safety."

Organizers and Scott were both co-operating with police.

Witness accounts

Amy Harris, a freelance photographer for The Associated Press, described an "aggressive" crowd atmosphere throughout the day because of the way fans were behaving â€" pushing and rushing the stage barricades and prohibited VIP and admission areas.

"It was definitely the most chaotic festival environment that I've been in," Harris said. "I felt uneasy all day."

Houston's fire chief said the crowd that had gathered for a performance by Scott began to push toward the front of the stage shortly after 9 p.m., causing panic. (Amy Harris/Invision/The Associated Press)

She got trapped behind a barricade while photographing performer Don Toliver because about 300 fans rushed the area. They ended up behind the security barricade with her.

Harris said she encountered a similar scene at a different stage for the main act. She left the media pit after three songs because of the disorder, which resulted in people being pulled over the security barricade to receive medical attention.

At one point, Gerardo Abad-Garcia said, he was pressed so tightly into the crowd that he couldn't move his arms off his chest. During Toliver's performance, which came before Scott's appearance, he started getting concerned for his safety.

"I just couldn't breathe. I was being compressed," he said. A security guard helped him and others climb a fence and get out.

He described the crowd during Scott's set as a wave that was "going forward and backward."

The vacated Astroworld site is seen early Saturday, after at least eight people died during surges in the crowd during Scott's performance. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle/The Associated Press) A search for answers

Houston police Chief Troy Finner urged people not to jump to conclusions as to what caused the surge.

"I think it's very important that none of us speculate. Nobody has all the answers tonight," Finner said.

Authorities did not disclose the causes of death, and the dead were not immediately identified.

Scott, one of music's biggest young stars, founded the Astroworld Festival in 2018, and it has taken place at the former site of Six Flags AstroWorld each year since, except for 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 29-year-old Houston native has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. He has a three-year-old daughter with Kylie Jenner, who announced in September that she's pregnant with their second child.

Canadian rapper Drake joined Scott on-stage at the concert â€" which was livestreamed by Apple Music â€" and posted photos to Instagram after the performance.

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