Eight people are dead following Travis Scott's concert during his Astroworld Fest event in Houston on Friday night.
In a press conference Saturday afternoon, Mayor Sylvester Turner along with the Houston Police Department, Houston Fire Department, City of Houston Office of Emergency Management and others gave an update. Turner confirmed it's an ongoing, active investigation, saying it's being "thoroughly investigated."
Houston Fire Department Chief Sam Pena confirmed the deaths during a press conference late Friday, noting that 17 people had initially been transported to local hospitals from the "chaotic event," 11 of whom were in cardiac arrest. Pena said that 300 concertgoers were treated at a field hospital set up at the festival, which was held at Houston's NRG Park and had around 50,000 in attendance.
"At approximately 9 or 9:15 p.m., the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage, and that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries," Pena said, recalling the events of the night. "People began to fall out and become unconscious, and that created additional panic. people were getting injured."
Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite added during the press conference that the chaos at the concert "seemed like it happened all at once."
"Suddenly, we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or medical episode," he noted. "So we immediately started doing CPR and moving people right then."
He added, "That's when I went and met with the promoters and LiveNation, and they agreed to end [the concert] early in the interest of public safety."
The festival later released a statement via social media, cancelling the rest of the weekend's performances.
"Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight — especially those we lost and their loved ones," the statement reads. "We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind, the festival will no longer be held on Saturday."
"As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this. Please reach out to @HoustonPolice. Thank you to our partners at the Houston Police Department, Fire Department, And NRG Park for their response and support."
Emergency numbers and reunification points have been established for anyone unable to contact loved ones who attended the festival, the Houston Office of Emergency Management shared on social media:
