8 Killed Including Students And at Least 25 Injured at Travis Scott Concert

At least eight people have been killed and several others injured in a crowd surge during a Travis Scott concert at Astroworld Festival in Houston.

Scott was performing when, shortly after 9 p.m. local time, the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage, causing panic.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner vowed that “this incident is being thoroughly investigated.” Turner said there were “a lot of unanswered questions” that could take weeks to investigate. An eighth person, who he said was male, is still unidentified.

25 people were transported to the hospital, and 13 are still hospitalized, and off those injured, at least 11 suffered from cardiac arrest. 

around 300 people were treated on the site of the concert for injuries as well. The fire chief added that while Astroworld had medical personnel at the festival, they "were quickly overwhelmed" by the injury count.

The victims who died range from age 14 to 27. Houston officials also reported that a 10-year-old is in critical condition.

A 14-year-old child was among eight people killed following a crowd.

A 16-year-old also died in the disaster.

Scott said he was devastated following the horrific deaths and was working to help the families of "the ones that were lost" as well as giving his "total support" to the police.

The victims also included two 21-year-olds, two people aged 23, and a 27-year-old, while the age of one victim is unknown.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that "one of the narratives was that some individual was injecting other people with drugs".

He confirmed an incident at the festival where a member of security "felt a prick in his neck" after trying to restrain a concert-goer.

Mr Finner said the security officer "went unconscious" and was revived with several doses of Narcan.

Although Travis completed his 75-minute performance, at one point the rapper was filmed calling for help. In another video he stood on a platform with his microphone while chaos unfolded beneath him.  

'People are f***ing dying, I want to save somebody's life,' a man said as he climbed on a platform where a cameraman was filming the performance.

Scott was seen sobbing afterwards.

About 30 minutes into Travis' set, which was livestreamed on Apple Music, The rapper noticed blue and red flashing lights on the festival floor and said, “There’s an ambulance in the crowd. Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

Police made 25 arrests on Friday night, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said, and the vast majority were for trespassing. One person was arrested for possession of marijuana, and one for public intoxication.

Astroworld is an annual event held at NRG Park since 2018, though it was put on pause last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.