United States: at least 8 dead due to crowd movement during music festival

At least eight people died Friday night during a crowd movement at the opening of the AstroWorld festival in Houston, Texas. According to the ABC13 television channel, hundreds of injured are also to be deplored.

“The crowd started to rush to the front of the stage. This created a start of panic which resulted in injuries.”Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said. “We have at least eight confirmed deaths tonight and several injured”, he said, adding that 17 people had been taken to hospital, including 11 victims of cardiac arrest. “In the space of a few minutes, we found ourselves with several people on the ground who were having a kind of cardiac arrest”, police said.

The organizers quickly ended the concert and the event was canceled to allow for investigations. A center, allowing families to find their loved ones, has been set up not far from the festival site, in a hotel. For the moment, the authorities say, no hotline has been opened.

Houston police have announced the opening of an investigation to determine the causes of this tragedy, adding that they were examining the video footage of the evening.

“Our thoughts are with the festival family tonight, especially those we have lost and their loved ones.”, the organizers said on Astroworld’s Instagram page, “we seek above all to support the local authorities”.

At the opening of the doors giving access to the festival already, scenes of crowds had been observed, some people stumbling then being crushed by the following ones, in too much of a hurry to access the stages installed on the site.

Authorities say a total of more than 300 people were injured throughout the day of the event, including minor scrapes and bruises.

The festival, created by Houston-born rapper and producer Travis Scott, was sold out. The 100,000 tickets were sold last May. Other artists scheduled to perform at the festival over the weekend included rappers Chief Keef and 21 Savage, as well as Australian rock band Tame Impala.