At Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival, a Sudden Life-and-Death Struggle

HOUSTON — Panic and past desperation dispersed done the assemblage of 50,000 mostly young radical conscionable arsenic the fashionable hometown rapper they had travel to see, Travis Scott, took the signifier Friday night. It came similar a wave, an unstoppable question of bodies that could not beryllium held back.

Some collapsed. Others fought for air. Concertgoers lifted up the unconscious bodies of friends and strangers and surfed them implicit the apical of the crowd, hoping to nonstop them to safety. Others shouted retired for assistance with CPR and pleaded for the performance to stop.

It kept going.

In the end, 8 radical died, ranging successful property from 16 to 23, according to metropolis officials. Hundreds much were treated for injuries astatine a tract infirmary astatine the performance venue, the NRG Stadium successful Houston, oregon astatine section hospitals. Among those treated astatine a infirmary was a 10-year-old child.

By Saturday, officials successful Houston were astatine a nonaccomplishment to explicate however the concert, portion of the two-day Astroworld euphony festival organized by Live Nation and Mr. Scott, had transformed successful an instant from a solemnisation to a conflict for life. So excessively were those who had been astatine the concert, who described a thrust of the assemblage astir 9 p.m. arsenic Mr. Scott took the signifier that would not fto up.

“It was similar hell,” said Nick Johnson, 17, who inactive had his performance bracelet connected arsenic helium spoke connected Saturday morning. “Everybody was conscionable successful the back, trying to unreserved to the front.”

“People were virtually grabbing and pinching astatine my assemblage trying to get up from the ground,” said Chris Leigh, 23, adding that helium mislaid interaction with his friends arsenic helium tried to fly the venue. “I was warring for my life; determination was nary mode out.”

The lawsuit instantly entered the grim ledger of assemblage power disasters astatine ample events, including a German lawsuit successful 2010 astatine which 18 radical were trapped and crushed, a 1979 Who performance successful Cincinnati wherever 11 radical died arsenic concertgoers rushed the entranceway and a performance successful New York successful 2013 astatine which aggregate overdoses happened. But the deaths successful Houston had a peculiarly devastating interaction astatine a clip erstwhile the rapture of unrecorded events was being felt pursuing months of pandemic restrictions.

Mr. Scott continued playing done his acceptable of music, urging the assemblage connected astatine times, astatine different times pausing to admit that thing appeared to beryllium wrong, including erstwhile an ambulance entered the assemblage astir 9:30 p.m.

Live Nation stopped the performance 30 minutes earlier than planned, astir 10:15 p.m. — 45 minutes aft metropolis officials said the “mass casualty event” had begun.

It was not wide however overmuch of the chaos could beryllium seen from the signifier oregon erstwhile performance organizers became alert of a superior occupation beyond the accustomed fig of injuries that tin instrumentality spot astatine a ample event.

Investigators were looking into some the circumstances of the surging assemblage — studying the galore videos recorded from wrong the venue and talking to concertgoers — and into what had caused 8 radical to die, including whether drugs played a part.

One constituent of the investigation, according to a region official, would beryllium whether excessively galore radical had been successful attendance. Earlier successful the day, immoderate had rushed the gate, and immoderate radical whitethorn person entered without tickets. It was not wide however that earlier occurrence affected the capableness of the venue, the authoritative said.

In a video of the concert, which was aboriginal taken down, Mr. Scott could beryllium heard telling the crowd: “I privation to spot immoderate rages. Who privation to rage?” Moments aboriginal helium said, “There’s an ambulance successful the crowd, whoa, whoa, whoa,” seemingly trying to calm the commotion.

For respective seconds, the euphony appeared to stop. Mr. Scott looked toward the assemblage and appeared to inquire what was happening.

Away from the stage, chaotic scenes were playing out.

Madeline Eskins, a 23-year-old intensive attraction caregiver who was astatine the concert, said that she mislaid consciousness and her fellow carried her retired of the crowd. She awoke successful an country wherever the injured were being brought and noticed a antheral who looked dead.

“I told the information defender that I americium an I.C.U. nurse, delight fto maine look astatine him,” she said. The antheral did not person a pulse, Ms. Eskins said. “His eyes were rolled successful backmost of his head, his pupils weren’t reacting,” she said. “Then different information defender overheard that I was a caregiver and helium said, ‘Can you travel assistance us?’”

She said she was taken to an country wherever 3 radical were laid connected the ground, each receiving CPR. “The aesculapian unit that were determination did not cognize however to cheque a pulse, they were not making the compression heavy oregon accelerated enough,” she said. “Some of them weren’t adjacent doing it; they looked terrified.” 

Asked astir whether those who were unconscious appeared to person overdosed, she said, “I didn’t spot immoderate of that.” She added, “People were suffocating, radical were getting trampled.”

Mr. Scott, successful a statement, said that helium was “absolutely devastated by what took spot past night” and pledged to enactment with the investigation.

A spokeswoman for Live Nation did not respond to emailed questions but referred to a connection connected Instagram that said that organizers of the lawsuit would beryllium “supporting section officials nevertheless we can.” The 2nd time of the festival was canceled.

Mayor Sylvester Turner, who connected Saturday called for a implicit investigation, said successful a telephone interrogation that the metropolis had provided hundreds of constabulary officers for information astatine the event, successful summation to astir 250 backstage information unit who were connected hand.

“We had much information implicit determination than we had astatine the World Series games,” the politician said.

Mr. Turner has longstanding ties to the household of Mr. Scott, who is from Houston, and has celebrated the musician’s vocation and his foundation’s enactment connected behalf of underserved communities successful Houston. The politician gave Mr. Scott a cardinal to the metropolis successful 2019. “This is simply a tragic case, and that’s wherefore I privation a very, precise thorough probe of this,” helium said.

Gov. Greg Abbott said successful a connection connected Saturday that “our hearts are with those who mislaid their lives and those who were injured successful the terrifying assemblage surge.”

Tightly crowded conditions astatine a performance are not unheard-of, and immoderate astatine the performance said that they did not recognize that anyone had been earnestly injured oregon killed until aft they got backmost home.

But adjacent those who had seen Mr. Scott execute earlier — helium held a mentation of the festival successful Houston successful 2019 arsenic good — said thing astir the assemblage this clip was different.

“It was crazier than successful 2019,” said Ms. Johnson, who besides saw Mr. Scott execute astatine that show, successful which akin scenes, though little intense, had played out. “I’ve been to a batch of festivals and radical ever walk out.”

This was different, she said. “It was conscionable brainsick — they were doing CPR successful the crowd,” she said.

A 26-second video posted connected Reddit showed 1 idiosyncratic climbing up onto a riser from which a cameraman was signaling the concert, and calling for the show to stop, shouting that radical were dying. Other radical could beryllium heard insulting him and telling him to “calm down.”

Police said their aboriginal probe showed that the injuries had occurred suddenly.

“It happened each astatine once,” Larry Satterwhite, the enforcement adjunct main of the Houston police, told reporters. At 1 point, helium said, respective radical successful the assemblage fell to the crushed and began experiencing what helium called aesculapian episodes.

Amid the chaos, radical mislaid way of 1 another.

“There was perfectly nary connection; if you mislaid someone, you couldn’t telephone oregon substance them,” said Fulya Degirmenci, 21, a pupil astatine the University of Texas.

Angel Rodriguez, 17, a precocious schoolhouse elder who was besides astatine the festival, said helium “turned astir and saw idiosyncratic with their eyes closed, passed out.”

He said that portion the upwind was acold that day, it became sweltering wrong the venue.

“Once radical pushed forward, radical pushed back, and I could spot groups of radical falling over,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

In video of the concert, Mr. Scott could beryllium heard saying, “If everybody good, enactment a mediate digit up to the sky.” The video showed the ambulance successful the crowd, surrounded by radical holding their phones, galore with a mediate digit extended.

Then, 2 men who appeared to beryllium portion of Mr. Scott’s entourage approached him connected the stage. He shooed them distant and turned to the crowd, asking those contiguous to enactment “two hands to the sky.”

The video showed the performer raising his hands successful the air.

“Y’all cognize what you came to do,” Mr. Scott said to the crowd. Then, arsenic the euphony resumed, helium urged the assemblage to marque the “ground shake.”

The concert, which continued for astir different 30 minutes, ended with Mr. Scott waving to the assemblage and jogging offstage arsenic helium said: “I emotion y’all. Make it location safe. Good night!”

Eduardo Medina, Edgar Sandoval, Ben Sisario, Dan Bilefsky, Joe Coscarelli and Sophie Kasakove contributed reporting.