Eight people died Friday night, 17 were hospitalized, and hundreds more were injured during the opening night of the Astroworld music festival in Houston, authorities said.
Tens of thousands of people packed into the Astroworld Festival grounds at NRG Park Friday night, where organizer and headline performer Travis Scott, a city native, took to the stage.
People in the crowd waited nearly all day to see Scott perform. The event also streamed live on Apple Music.
Twitter users posted videos of people stampeding to get inside the festival Friday afternoon. At least 11 of those hospitalized had experienced heart attacks, paramedics said.
By 9:15 p.m., the crowd of about 50,000 people began pushing toward the stage, according to the Houston Fire Department.
“The crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage, and people began to panic,” Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told ABC13.
The ongoing concert stopped because of the commotion. Hundreds had been injured, and more than a dozen were hospitalized. At least eight people were killed in the stampede, police said.
An ABC13 reporter posted near the festival entrance said security had stepped in to divert some of the crowd away from the gate before they overloaded the front gates.
The event canceled Saturday's events because of "public safety."
This year’s festival grounds included dozens of carnival games and amusement rides. Organizers canceled last year’s event because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, Scott released a statement saying he was "absolutely devastated" by what took place, vowing to work "together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need."
Scott is scheduled to headline a night at the Day N Vegas festival next weekend. However, it’s unclear if he will still perform.
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