Eight dead at the Astroworld Festival in Houston – serious allegations against the organizers and the audience

After the tragedy at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, serious allegations are made against the organization. But the behavior of the audience is also criticized.

Houston – The “Astroworld” music festival in Houston (USA) ended in tragedy. Eight people were killed and more than two dozen had to be taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. According to the dpa news agency, the eight dead include two young people aged 14 and 16. The other victims were between 21 and 27 years old.

This was announced by the Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, on Saturday afternoon (local time). There are also still many unanswered questions, especially with regard to the organizers, said Turner. In the coming days they will investigate in detail “why this catastrophe happened and what steps must be taken to prevent such an event in the future.”

Astroworld Festival in Houston: Travis Scott expresses himself after mass panic

The accident at the Astroworld Festival occurred during an appearance by the rapper Travis Scott. About 50,000 people flocked to the festival site to watch the Houston-born rapper. There was a crowd in front of the stage during his performance, then panic broke out when people passed out. More than 300 people had to be treated in a field hospital on the festival site. Scott commented on Saturday morning (local time) via Twitter. “I’m completely devastated by what happened last night,” wrote the 29-year-old.

The video footage clearly shows how hundreds of people stormed the festival site in Houston before the concert began. Fences were pulled down, a VIP entrance completely dismantled. The sparsely represented security staff and the few police officers present were completely overwhelmed. Presumably, hundreds if not thousands more people came to the site than expected. According to the organizers, the Astroworld Festival was sold out with an audience of around 50,000 people. Originally the concert should have run for two days and other artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, SZA and Bad Bunny performed.

Tragedy at the Astroworld Festival in Houston: Eight people die

In the USA, however, there are now clear allegations against the organizers who did not cancel the concert despite the situation in the entrance areas. A concert-goer told the US portal Huffington Post that the mood had been tense even before Travis Scott appeared. “When he jumped on stage, everyone went crazy. Everything went haywire, ”Niaara Goods told the Huffington Post. Other eyewitnesses report similar things. “There was a lot of jumping in the front. If you didn’t jump, you fell and got trampled, ”said Angel Colon from Orlando, Florida to the local news channel KHOU 11.

But not only the organizer is in the focus of criticism after the events. Audience behavior is also a source of concern. Video footage on Twitter and elsewhere clearly shows that ambulances are not let through by the partying crowd. Police officers rushing in in small vehicles to calm the situation were also blocked. Some fans even climbed the roofs of the vehicles and continued celebrating instead of clearing the way for the emergency services.

Astroworld Festival in Houston: not the first mass panic resulting in death

According to CNN, the two-day Astroworld Festival in Houston was organized by Travis Scott himself. Houston is the hometown of the 29-year-old rapper. He was born there in 1992 as Jacques Webster Jr.

The Houston tragedy is reminiscent of other disasters that occurred at major music festivals in the past. These include the Love Parade in Duisburg, where 21 people died in a mass panic in 2010. In the summer of 2000, nine people died at a concert by the US band Pearl Jam at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. In 1999, more than 50 people were killed at a concert in Minsk as a result of a mass panic. (Daniel Dillmann with dpa)

Rubriklistenbild: © ALEX BIERENS DE HAAN