On Friday night, eight people were killed, and many more were injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music event in Houston, Texas; the youngest victim was 14 years old. Officials verified to Vulture that one of the hospitalized children is ten years old. Around 9 p.m., the tragedy occurred as fans began pushing toward the stage during the rapper’s headline act. Officials claim that people were trampled.
“This is now a criminal investigation that’s going to involve our homicide division, as well as narcotics, and we’re going to get down to the bottom of it,” Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner said at a press conference Saturday afternoon.
“It happened all at once,” Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said. “It seemed like it happened over the course of just a few minutes.”
Attendees described a horrifying scene. “The crowd was squishing me so much that I felt like I couldn’t breathe,” festivalgoer Emily Munguia told CNN. “I started screaming for help. … I felt so scared like I was going to die. … The amount of people I saw get hurt, passed out, bleeding, crying is crazy.”
“Everyone in the front was getting crushed,” Billy Nasser, another attendee, told The Houston Chronicle. “The crowd was moving so hard, people were falling over and then tripping over the people on the ground. … I have been to so many festivals. I have never seen anything like this before.”
Afterward, rapper Travis Scott made a statement on Instagram.
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 6, 2021