At least eight dead many injured at Houston festival stampede

November 6, 2021 â€" 6.11pm

Houston: At least eight people were killed and many were injured in a crush when fans surged toward the stage during the opening night of the Astroworld music festival in Houston on Friday, officials said.

Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena confirmed the casualty figures at an early morning news conference outside NRG Park.

A still from US television shows the crowd rushing through the gates towards the stage. Credit:KHOU TV

Pena said that at around 9pm local time the crowd that had gathered for a performance by rapper Travis Scott began to push toward the front of the stage, causing panic and injuries.

Houston-born Scott is a rap music artist who came to fame in the early 2010s for his unique vocal style. Astroworld is also the eponymous name of his third studio album released in 2018 to critical acclaim.

Drake had joined Travis Scott on-stage at the concert â€" which was live-streamed by Apple Music â€" and posted photos to Instagram after the performance.

Travis and Kylie Jenner, from the Kardashian family, have a daughter.

Video shows a huge crowd rush as hundreds of people raced to get into the event and close to the stage. The show was called off shortly after.

“The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage and that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries,” Pena said.

“People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.”

It was not yet clear what caused the disaster and Houston Police Chief Troy Finner asked people not to speculate.

“Nobody has all the answers tonight,” he said. “We have hurting families out here.”

Live Nation, the event organiser, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Houston Chronicle said Scott stopped multiple times during his 75-minute performance when he saw fans distressed near the front of the stage.

He asked security to make sure they were OK and help them out of the crowd. Emergency vehicles, lights and alarms flashing, cut through the crowds several times.

In a video posted to social media, Scott could be seen stopping the concert and asking for aid for someone in the audience: “Security, somebody help real quick.”

Travis Scott performs on day one of the Astroworld festival in Houston on Friday.Credit:AP

The fire department took 17 people to hospitals, local media reported, adding 11 of those were in cardiac arrest.

Officials set up a reunification centre had been set up at a hotel for family members who had not been able to reach relatives at the festival.

A crowd of 50,000 showed up for the two-day event, the Chronicle reported. The festival had been sold out, according to the official website.

The second day has been cancelled.

The deadly surge was the most deaths at a US concert since the 2003 Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people in Rhode Island.

Eleven people died and about two dozen were injured in 1979 at a concert for The Who as thousands of fans tried to get into Cincinnati’s riverfront coliseum.

Share this post