8 people dead, hundreds injured, families devastated. This is the reality of rapper Travis Scott’s third annual Astroworld festival, which is now being called one of the deadliest concerts in U.S. History. It’s very unfortunate that lives were lost. I’m sure the victims did not foresee anything like this happening, as they set out to see some of their favorite artists perform. But what about the event planners? Did they know that it was possible for something like this to happen? Well, you would think so, especially when this wasn’t the first time.
3 Injured in Travis Scott 2019 Astroworld Festival
The two-day festival began in 2018, when Scott released his album Astroworld. The festival is one of Houston’s biggest events, sold out every time, with approximately 50,000 people assembled into NRG Park. In 2019, a similar incident to that of Friday Night’s tragedy, took place at the Astroworld festival. The rapper even posted about it himself on Twitter.
THANKS TO EVERYBODY THAT PULLED UP TO RAGE !!!! pic.twitter.com/zrgd4gDWSj
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 13, 2019
Why Wasn’t Anything Done to Prevent Friday Night’s Tragedy
As reported over the weekend here at FM Hiphop, lawsuits have already been filed against Travis Scott, Live Nation, and also the rapper Drake, who was said to have been performing at the time of the crowd surge. Famed civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is one of the attorneys who will be representing some of the victims. He took to Instagram to scold the organizers who apparently did nothing to prevent a recurrence of 2019’s incident. You can click on the link here to view his post.
History of Crowd Surges
The Astroworld tragedy, isn’t a first of it’s kind. In fact, it’s been happening for quite some time now. Over the years, there has been several incidents where people have been killed in crowd surges at major events. Such as the one in 1979 at “The Who” concert. 11 people were killed after being crushed by a large crowd that surged into the concert to see the British rock band perform.
The 1989 “Human Crush“
In 1989, 97 people died in the Hillsborough Soccer Stadium, in what was called a “human crush.” Rowdy fans attempted to surge onto the field. They wanted to enter the stadium before kick off, and it resulted in a deadly crowd surge. More than 50,000 people gathered at the stadium in England. That included the 3000 that were in the standing room only section, a section that was only meant to hold 1600 people safely.
2015 Hajj Pilgrimage
In 2015, two crowds collided at the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. The pilgrimage is an annual Islamic spiritual event where Muslims must go at least once in their lifetime if possible. A procession of millions of people come together simultaneously on Mecca and perform a series of rituals. This particular time, a stampede occurred, killing over 2400 pilgrims.
Why Does Crowd Surges Kill People
In the wake of the deadly Astroworld tragedy, people are trying to make sense of it all. Experts have chimed in to explain why crowd surges can kill people. According to the experts, in crowd surges, the victims are often getting squeezed to the point where they cannot get any oxygen. They’re not dying because they get trampled.
The force from a crowd surge can be strong enough to bend steel, and can hit the victims from two directions. The force can come from both the rear of the crowd pushing forward, and also from the front of the crowd that is trying to escape. If the victims fall causing a pileup, force can also come from above. In the middle of all that, you have the victim’s lungs. Experts say that Asphyxiation is the cause of death in the vast majority of those victims.
What Causes A Crowd Surge?
According to experts, event organizers who fail to provide a safe environment are the cause for crowd surges. This is why they call the incidents crowd surges instead of a “stampede” or “panic”, because if they use those terms, that can put the blame on the people in the crowd. “Safety has no profit, so it tends to be the last thing in the budget”, said G. Keith Still, a visiting professor of crowd science at the University of Suffolk, in England. Still has testified as an expert witness in several court cases involving crowds.
Steps That Can Be Taken By Event Organizers To Ensure Safety
Still says that the crowd’s density, may be the most important factor in a deadly surge. One of the first things to focus on to ensure safety is the design of the event. Including making sure that the density of the crowd doesn’t exceed guidelines set by the National Fire Protection Association and others. That includes having enough space for everyone, and large enough gaps for people to move about. Still also recommends monitoring the crowd, and having trained crowd spotters with noise cancellation headsets. The spotters should be in direct communication with someone in close proximity to the performer who is willing to temporarily stop the event in the case of a life threatening situation.
Written By chi_journalist
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