The Astroworld Festival has shocked the world. Numerous videos have made their way around social media. Now, the attendees who survived are speaking out, adding another angle to the disaster. Concert goers are describing it as a death trap.
One Twitter user shared her very detailed experience, as she was almost a victim of the crowd surge.
An eyewitness at Astroworld says the massive trampling Incident occurred right after @trvisXX performance began. She also mentions about the extreme crowding before Travis Scott started at Astrofest. #astroworldfestival #ASTROWORLDFest #AstroWorldhttps://t.co/06Cl6eSRJk pic.twitter.com/ZM9fWnDdYT
— Βƌβƌβơ⊔⟟ℓℓ⋲ (@WulfMunkey) November 6, 2021
Some shared with CNN, that “it got harder to breathe,” as people packed into the Astroworld Festival. Another said, “There was just too many people there. It was overcrowded. The way the barricades were set up had people trapped in. It was a death trap.”
The attendees continue to share gruesome accounts of their experience. They share how they watched as people lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen. Thus leading to the unfortunate chain reaction of sudden crowding to death and injury of many. The crowd surge “caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” the city’s fire chief, Samuel Peña, said Saturday morning.
Many of the concertgoers recount seeing multiple lifeless bodies. However, some are speculating that there were many more than reported. It is unclear as to why there is a discrepancy in the number of reported victims.
Lawsuits are rolling in and are continuing to pile up against Travis Scott, Drake, and Live Nation. The lawsuits are claiming that the performers “incited mayhem.”
The Astroworld Festival adds to the history of crowd surges
Undoubtedly, this concert is one of the deadliest in recent years. Interestingly enough, this is not the first time Scott has whipped a crowd into mayhem. Scott has had several encounters with authorities after he reportedly “incited” an unruly crowd. In 2017, he prompted concert attendees to overpower security. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for inciting a riot.
There is a history of “crowd surges” occurring a large overcrowded events. A crowd surge comes as a result of the environment being unable to safely sustain a large crowd. Read here to see the history of crowd surges .
The festival has rattled many and will leave a lasting effect on those who attended, and those who have heard the numerous accounts shared in the media. Since this horrific occurrence was preventable, the possibility of it happening again will undoubtedly be a chief concern for concertgoers and organizers alike.
Written by Antoinette Ford
