Update (Nov. 12, 2021): A ninth person, 22-year-old Bharti Shahani, has died following the Astroworld tragedy, TMZ reports. Shahani died on Thursday from her injuries sustained in the massive trampling incident at Travis Scott’s music festival in Houston.
Shahani, who was a senior student at Texas A&M, was previously declared brain dead and was put on a ventilator upon her admittance to the hospital. She attended the festival with her sister and cousin on Friday, but the group was separated amid the giant mosh pit. Shahani reportedly suffered several heart attacks in the incident and was carried out by first responders.
A cellphone video obtained by the outlet shows Shahani being dropped on her head as first responders attempted to get her to safety.
An attorney for Shahani’s family tells the outlet that they’re looking for justice for their daughter and hope that whoever is responsible for safety protocols is held accountable. Shahani is the latest victim of the debacle looking to launch a lawsuit against those responsible. She joins a list that includes the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, who remains in a coma from his injuries.
Scott is currently facing at least 46 lawsuits in relation to the now-canceled festival.
The rapper, in a show of remorse, offered to pay for the funeral services of the previously announced eight dead victims and is partnering with mental health organizations to offer services for those suffering from post-traumatic effects.
"Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons. He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they'd best like to be connected,” a rep for the rapper said.
Original (Nov. 8, 2021): Houston rapper Travis Scott held his annual Astroworld music festival at the NRG Park in Houston, Texas, on Nov. 5, and several concertgoers were fatally injured. In the aftermath of the incident, lawsuits have been filed against Scott and Drake, as well as the entertainment company Live Nation.
Twenty-five people were injured and eight people died as a result of the chaos during Scott's performance. Based on the accounts of witnesses, many attendees were having difficulties breathing as the festival crowd pressed toward the stage.
Two attorneys have made public responses to impending lawsuits, including prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who has filed for his client Noah Gutierrez. Gutierrez, 21, said the concert was filled with "chaos and desperation."
"We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced. The horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying to save them," Crump said in a statement.
Texas attorney Thomas J. Henry, who represents Kristian Paredes of Austin, accused Scott and the other defendants of placing "profits over attendees."
“By the time Live Nation finally decided to end the performance, 23 people required hospitalization, 11 were in cardiac arrest, and more than 300 had to be treated at a ‘field hospital’ on site. Live musical performances are meant to inspire catharsis, not tragedy. Many of these concert-goers were looking forward to this event for months, and they deserved a safe environment in which to have fun and enjoy the evening. Instead, their night was one of fear, injury and death,” Henry added.
Many attendees of the event uploaded videos to social media that showed Scott appearing expressionless as paramedics performed CPR on lifeless people. In one video when the crowd cried out to him to stop the show, Scott replies, "Who asked me to stop?" as people laid on the ground and were being loaded in ambulances.
He reportedly continued to rally the crowd to make "the ground shake" and asked, “If everybody good, put a middle finger up to the sky!”
Scott later said he didn't know the severity of the problems that were occurring at the concert, however, witnesses posted conflicting videos on Twitter.
The 30-year-old rapper has previously held concerts that ended in chaos — in both 2015 and 2017, Scott was arrested for inciting crowds. At his 2015 concert in Chicago, he was accused of coaxing his fans to bombard the stage, which resulted in a riot in the mosh pit and left a security guard and fans injured.
Scott also allegedly encouraged people to jump off a balcony during his concert in New York, during which Kyle Green said he was pushed off the third floor, causing him to become paralyzed. Green ended up suing Scott, his manager, the concert promoter and the security company citing “negligence, carelessness and recklessness.”
As pressure from the fallout of his concerts continues to mount, Scott posted a video to social media on Saturday expressing remorse and concern for his fans.
Scott is currently issuing refunds to all Astroworld attendees and has canceled his Day N Vegas Festival appearance.