Travis Scott continued to perform his Astroworld set for about 30 minutes as the people were crushed to death and crowds chanted ‘stop the show’: Rapper was left ‘in tears and beside himself’ after finding out what happened
- Rapper Travis Scott continued to perform his 75-minute set at Astroworld on Friday night as eight people were killed and hundreds injured in a crowd surge
- Video shared on social media shows concertgoers repeatedly screaming ‘stop the show’ as the chaos broke out
- Concertgoers were being knocked down and crushed by other attendees
- An ICU nurse in attendance said the event was ‘overcrowded’ and that the medical staff were both inexperienced and underprepared
- ‘Some of these medical staff had little to no experience with CPR – didn’t know how to check a pulse, carotid or femoral,’ nurse Madeline Eskins shared
- Scott apparently ‘had no idea what was going on’ as the deadly crush occurred
- A source close to Scott said afterwards he was ‘beside himself and in tears’
Social media video shows fans begging Travis Scott to stop his Astroworld Festival Friday night during the crowd surge that left at least eight death and hundreds injured.
Video circulating on Twitter showed the crowd chanting ‘stop the show’ as concertgoers were being knocked down and crushed by other attendees.
‘Fans were recording the concert and people doing CPR. Fans were yelling at the stage crew around us, saying stop the concert, people are dying. No one listened,’ ICU nurse and concert attendee Madeline Eskins told Rolling Stone.
‘It was definitely overcrowded. It was insane, honestly. I knew it was just way too crowded – it just got worse and worse as I got closer to Travis Scott performing it got more crowded, more crowded, more crowded.’
She also shared that although they are not to blame for the tragedy, the event’s medical staff were apparently unprepared and inexperienced.
‘Some of these medical staff had little to no experience with CPR – didn’t know how to check a pulse, carotid or femoral,’ Eskins shared on Instagram.
‘Compressions were being done without a pulse check so ppl who had a pulse were getting CPR, but meanwhile there was not enough people to rotate out doing compressions on individuals that were actually pulseless. The medical staff didn’t have the tools to do their jobs and despite the crowd around us trying to get someone to stop the concert they just kept going, even though Travis acknowledged that someone in the crowed needed an ambulance.’
Rapper Travis Scott continued to perform his 75-minute set at Astroworld on Friday night as eight people were killed and hundreds injured in a crowd surge
Social media video shows fans begging Travis Scott to stop his Astroworld Festival Friday night during the crowd surge that left at least eight death and hundreds injured. The crowd chanted ‘stop the show’ as concertgoers were being knocked down and crushed by other attendees
Scott, 29, continued to perform after eight people were crushed to death – including two victims aged just 14 and 16 – in what one witness described as a ‘floor of bodies’.
Although he completed his 75-minute performance, at one point Scott was filmed calling for help. In another video he stood on a platform with his microphone while chaos unfolded beneath him.
Afterwards, the rapper was seen sobbing. A source close to him told Page Six that he had ‘no idea what was going on, he was on stage performing’.
‘He’s beside himself, I’ve never heard him like that. He was in tears,’ the source added.
Approximately 50,000 people attended the sold-out Astroworld event at Houston’s NRG Park. Witnesses said the chaos broke out after Scott took the stage to perform.
Emergency personnel respond to Atsroworld Festival Friday night after receiving reports of the deadly crush
Medics are seen transporting patients as they conduct CPR
ICU nurse Madeline Eskins (pictured) – who was attending Astroworld Festival for the third time – argued that although they are not to blame for the tragedy, the event’s medical staff were apparently unprepared and inexperienced
Eskins, who said this was her third time attending Astroworld, said she thought she was going to die: ‘I looked at my boyfriend and I was about to tell my boyfriend to tell my son I loved him because I did not think I would make it out of there. And I fainted.
‘I tried to jump up as much as I could to get air. I couldn’t breathe. I just felt it. I knew it was coming.’
‘Everything was normal up until when Travis posted the time he was going to get onstage,’ attendee Donovon Davis, 22, of Houston, said. ‘That’s when it just got wild.’
‘The crowd was moving so violently that people fell on top of us, and when they fell, people fell on top of them. There was layers and layers and layers of people falling.’
Davis continued: ‘I turned to pick him up, and I could hear him screaming for help. The music hadn’t started yet. And then the crowd just moved me, and I saw a wave of people just walk over him.’
Other videos from the night showed distraught fans begging concert staff to halt the performance and help people escape the surge.
‘People are f***ing dying, I want to save somebody’s life,’ a man said as he climbed on a platform where a cameraman was filming the performance.
‘That’s somebody’s kid! I want to save them!’ he screamed – but to no avail.
Another clip showed the same man climbing up towards the cameraman joined by a woman pleading with the staff member to stop the concert.
Although inaudible, the cameraman was evidently trying to shoo the revelers off the platform and back into the crowd.
Eskins described her experience at Atsroworld on Instagram. She offered specific examples of how the medical staff allegedly handled the chaos
Festival goers are seen rushing into the VIP area prior to Travis Scott performing
A medic provides CPR to an Astroworld attendee
In yet another graphic video an unconscious young man was surrounded by Houston police officers who guided him onto the ground. They rolled the man onto his side while shining lights into his eyes.
Police investigating a deadly crush say a crazed man injected at least one person with opioids during the chaos.
Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner made the shocking claim at a press conference Saturday after hours of rumors about the Astroworld Fest tragedy, after Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner revealed the victims were aged between 14 and 27.
‘One of the narratives was that some individual was injecting other people with drugs. We do have a report of a security officer, according to the medical staff that was out and treated him last night,’ Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner said at Saturday’s conference.
‘He was reaching over to restrain or grab a citizen and he felt a prick in his neck.
‘He went unconscious, they administered Narcan. He was revived, and medical staff did notice a prick similar to a prick you would get if somebody was trying to inject,’ he added.
It is unclear what drug was injected into the security guard, although Narcan is used to revive people who’ve overdosed on opioids, including fentanyl.
There have not been any reports of concertgoers being injected with drugs.
It also remains unclear if that incident was connected to the deadly crush that also left 25 in hospital. No further updates have been given on whether the needle stabber was arrested.
Although he completed his 75-minute performance, at one point Scott was filmed calling for help. In another video he stood on a platform with his microphone while chaos unfolded beneath him
Around 2pm hundreds of fans stormed the festival’s VIP entrance. About seven hours later the surge in front of the main stage killed eight people but the two events appear to be unrelated
The surge happened at 9.15pm and Pena said in a news conference on Saturday afternoon that the ‘mass casualty incident’ was declared at 9.15pm. Nearly an hour later, at 10.10pm, the concert producer Live Nation halted the show.
Mayor Turner then confirmed that of the eight who were killed two were under 18, two were 21, two were 23, one was 27 and one victim’s age remains unknown.
He also said that 25 people in total were transported to the hospital after the ‘tragic event’ and 13 are still hospitalized, including five that are under the age of 18.
Distressing video showed an unconscious male concertgoer being rushed to a medical assistance area after he passed out in the crush, which happened after people surged towards the stage shortly after 9.15pm CST Friday night.
Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner announced during a press conference Saturday (pictured) that a crazed man injected at least one person with opioids during the chaos. It also remains unclear if that incident was connected to the deadly crush that also left 25 in hospital
Earlier on Friday, hundreds of people were seen stampeding through the event’s VIP entrance without being checked, sparking fears of overcrowding.
As the chaos unfolded the rapper even appeared to glance in the direction of passed-out fans as the show went on. Scott halted the performance at least once was filmed calling for security to help distressed fans in the front row.
Mayor Turner said the investigation remains active with the police department’s homicide and narcotics team, adding that the local government is also speaking with spokespeople from the concert’s producer Live Nation Worldwide and Live Nation Entertainment.
‘We will probably be at it for quite some time to determine exactly what happened,’ Turner said.
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