Travis Scott’s sold-out concert in Houston, Texas, resulted in the deaths of nine individuals, ranging in ages from 14 to 27. With hundreds injured and a 9-year-old boy in a medically induced coma, people are questioning the cause of this severe accident. 

Astroworld’s star-studded lineup with artists such as Bad Bunny, Roddy Rich, and SZA made it one of the most anticipated festivals of 2021. After a year of canceled shows, Astroworld was one of the largest music events with an attendance of over 50,000 fans. 

On November 5, the first night of the two-day festival, Travis Scott was the main headline performer. Scott’s performance began at around 9 p.m, which was when there was a surge of people in the crowd. Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña stated that the crowd started to “compress toward the front of the stage. That caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries. People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.” In addition to the crowd surge, Houston Police Chief Lieutenant Larry Satterwhite said, “several people [were] down on the ground experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or medical episode." 

This surge was not unexpected; Scott taunted the crowd by stage diving and occasionally yelling at individuals. Drake's surprise appearance as a guest performer did not help matters. During his performance, a group of people in the crowd started to chant, “stop the show,” and some people even went to the lengths of climbing onto the stage so that the artist was made aware of the casualties. Although fans were clamoring to grab the singer's attention, the show went on for an hour.

The medical team was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of injuries sustained during the performance, as many people were trampled or passed out. According to some concertgoers, the festival itself lacked proper equipment and medically trained staff. 

As of now, the police are still investigating the deaths and the event itself. 

Scott has responded to the situation with a short Instagram clip claiming that he was unaware of the environment in the crowd. According to reports, Scott intends to pay for the funerals of those who died and refund all Astroworld attendees. 

All nine victims are confirmed to be Danish Baig (27), Rodolfo Pena (23), Madison Dubiski (23), Bharti Shahani (22), Franco Patino (21), Axel Acosta Avila (21), Jacob Jurinek (20), Brianna Rodriguez (16), and John Hilgert (14).

By Emilie Chi