Eight people have died and hundreds of others injured following a chaotic launch of Travis Scott's Astroworld Fest, police said. Per CNN and other outlets, the annual festival hosted by Travis Scott saw a crowd surge that led to numerous injuries and at least eight confirmed deaths. "We had scores of individuals that were injured," Sam Peña, Houston Fire Chief, said.
"The crowd for whatever reason began to push and surge towards the front of the stage, which caused the people in the front to be compressed -- they were unable to escape that situation," continued Peña. 50,000 people were in attendance at the festival hosted at NRG Stadium. Police said the incident occurred roughly around 9 p.m.
More than 300 people were treated at a field hospital while 33 others were taken to hospitals, 11 of which were in critical condition. A 10-year-old boy is reportedly among those in the hospital and remains in critical condition. 11 people reportedly went into cardiac arrest, according to authorities.
Concertgoers shared horror stories of their experiences at the event, with one fan describing it as a "concert in hell." Security and medical personnel became immediately overwhelmed by the crowd surge that prompted attendees to perform CPR on those who were injured. A reunification was set up shortly after for people who have not heard from a loved one.
At one point during the concert, Travis Scott did stop the show to ask security to help out a fan who passed out. Police said that Scott ended the show "as soon as the situation got to the point where it was overwhelming the resources there." However, Peña said that "the damage had been done" at that point.
"Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight -- especially those we lost and their loved ones. We are focused on supporting local officials however we can," the organizers of Astroworld Festival said in a statement.
"As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into a series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this, please reach out to @houstonpolice," the statement continued.
Travis Scott brought out multiple guests on Friday night before the chaos erupted including Drake, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, and more.
