8 Dead, Many Injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld 2021 Festival

Scott has released a statement about what the police called a “mass casualty incident” in Houston

November 6, 2021

Eight people have died and numerous others were injured in what officials called a “mass casualty incident” at Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld Festival in Houston on Friday night, The Associated Press reports. Officials transported 17 people to hospitals, including 11 people who were in cardiac arrest. A 10-year-old was reportedly among those injured, and the ages of the deceased are between 14 and 27, according to a report from The New York Times. The medical examiner is currently investigating the causes of death.

“The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said during a press conference. “People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.” Peña added that the festival’s on-site medical units were “quickly overwhelmed” following the crowd surge.

“I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night,” Travis Scott said in a statement. “My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All.”

The Associated Press reports that the crowd pushed forward as a timer ticked down to the start of Travis Scott’s performance. According to Houston station ABC13, the crowd began to surge when Drake made a surprise appearance with Scott. One fire department official said the incident “seemed like it happened over the course of just a few minutes.” During the press conference this morning, police mentioned that officers were investigating a rumor that people “injected some people with drugs” in the crowd.

“Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode,” Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite told The AP. “And so we immediately started doing CPR, and moving people right then, and that’s when I went and met with the promoters, and Live Nation, and they agreed to end early in the interest of public safety.” Scott reportedly performed for 75 minutes.

Numerous people with eyewitness accounts of the chaos that unfolded at Astroworld discussed being trapped and crushed near the front of the stage. Madeline Eskins told The Daily Beast that she fainted and was “basically crowd-surf[ed]” to safety. There are videos of people dancing on top of emergency response vehicles trying to work their way through the crowd. An Instagram post from an apparent eyewitness described being trampled: “It was like watching a Jenga Tower topple.”

Footage from the set shows Scott pointing to an ambulance making its way through the sea of bodies, acknowledging it, and then continuing to perform. Other videos show Scott stopping the performance to ask for security to help someone in the crowd.

Video has circulated of people stampeding through security to get into the event earlier in the day, ignoring staff working the event and breaking down security fences. Fans rushing through security and breaking down the gates has been an issue at previous Astroworld events. It was also a prominent subject in the Travis Scott Netflix documentary Look Mom I Can Fly.

“We had more security over there than we had at the World Series games,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told The New York Times today. Turner claimed there were “hundreds” of officers on-site, plus “240 or 250 non-police security.” He added: “I’m going to hold any sort of conclusion pending a thorough review and investigation.”

Regarding the rumor of the drug spiking in the crowd, Turner responded, “I don’t even want to go to drug overdoses. We are looking at all potential causes of this incident or what caused the cardiac arrest. We’re not taking anything off the table.”

“Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival Family tonight—especially those we lost and their loved ones,” the festival wrote in a statement posted early this morning. “Thank you to our partners at the Houston Police Department, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their response and support.”

Astroworld 2021 was set to continue tonight (Saturday), but it has been canceled. In addition to Travis Scott, yesterday’s event featured performances from SZA, Lil Baby, Master P, Yves Tumor, Toro y Moi, Don Toliver, and Roddy Ricch. Ricch subsequently posted an Instagram Story (viewed by Pitchfork), stating: “Please have the families of those who we lost yesterday reach out. I’ll be donating my net compensation to the families of this incident #Pray4Houston.” The festival streamed live on Apple Music and was set to feature appearances from Tame Impala, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bad Bunny, Chief Keef, Young Thug, and others.

In a statement made on his Instagram Story, Scott said he was “working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time.” He added, “[A]ny time I can make out anything that’s going on, I’d stop the show and help them get the help they need. I could just never imagine the severity of the situation.”