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At least 8 dead and many injured at Astroworld Festival in Houston
By Fernando Alfonso III, CNN
Once Travis Scott took the stage, "all hell broke loose," concert-goer says
From CNN’s Maya Brown
Alexis Guavin has been to numerous Travis Scott performances but what she experienced at the Astroworld Festival was unlike anything she had seen before.
"I have been to many Travis shows before and am definitely aware of how insane the crowd and pits can be but this was my first Astroworld fest and I had no idea it could get like that," Guavin, 23, told CNN.
Guavin recounted what she experienced once Scott took the stage.
"Once he started, all hell broke loose. All of what is to be 50,000 people ran to the front, compressing everyone together with the little air available. Luckily, I have mosh pit experience and am 6ft tall so I could at least put my head up to breathe but others not so fortunate," she said. "There were mosh pits in every single direction. And if you weren’t in them, you were trying so hard to push to not fall in. Like I’m telling you, there was one in front, back, to the left, and to the right of you wherever you were. Front, middle, back."
Video shows crowd rushing through security gates at the start of Astroworld Festival
A video taken by concert-goer Lucas Naccarati shows a large group of people rushing through the entry gates during Friday's Astroworld Festival.
"Everyone knocked down the barricade and started rushing through, a couple security tried stopping them but definitely couldn’t stop everyone," Naccarati told CNN over Twitter direct message.
Naccarati said that festival security was able to detain some of the people.
Watch the video:
More than one child was transported to the hospital from Astroworld Festival
From CNN’s Rosa Flores and Maya Brown
Texas Children’s Hospital told CNN that more than one pediatric patient was transported to the hospital from the Astroworld Festival that turned deadly last night in Houston.
“Texas Children’s Hospital received patients from the incident at NRG last night. More information can be provided by authorities with the Houston Fire Department,” said Natasha Barrett, Texas Children’s Hospital spokesperson.
No more details were provided by the hospital. Local officials are scheduled to hold a press conference at 4 p.m. ET.
Some context: Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said during an overnight news conference that a 10-year-old child had been transported to the hospital.
The statement from Texas Children’s Hospital increases the number of children impacted by this tragic incident.
Houston’s Ben Taub Hospital received three patients from the festival, according to Harris Health System associate administer Amanda Callaway, and four people were brought to the Houston Methodist Hospital’s emergency department, according to hospital spokesperson Gale Smith.
A total of 23 people were taken to area hospitals after the incident — 11 of whom were in critical condition — and eight of them died, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told CNN Saturday morning.
Concert-goer during Scott's performance: "I truly thought that if I fell it would’ve been the end of me"
From CNN’s Maya Brown
What was meant to be a nice birthday gift turned out to be the exact opposite for Sarai Sierra.
Sierra attended the Astroworld Festival to celebrate her birthday with five friends and family, and vividly recalled the countdown clock to Travis Scott's performance on Friday night.
"It all started with the timer and the very odd and slightly scary music, noise that was being played on his stage," Sierra told CNN. "The noise sounded like something you could get hypnotized with and the countdown or timer would end and then start again."
When Scott appeared, the crowd began "raging," she said.
"I truly thought that if I fell it would’ve been the end of me. I spent at least 15 minutes just getting pushed around due to mosh pits or simply because people were 'raging,'" Sierra said. "I then saw a girl probably 17-18 getting carried out of the crowd who was passed out already. I saw a kid probably 14-15 who could not breathe, a girl who was probably 16 crying because she too could not breathe. In total, I saw about 20 people who could not breathe getting out of the crowd and I saw one person in front of me have a seizure."
Sierra added: "It felt like we were drowning in a pool filled of just people."
Houston mayor: "We're looking at everything" to determine the cause of fatal Astroworld incident
From CNN’s Claudia Dominguez
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told CNN that authorities are looking into “everything” to find out what happened at the Astroworld Festival Friday night that left eight dead and dozens of others injured.
“We are certainly looking at all of the video footage, we are talking to witnesses, we are talking to event organizers,” Turner said. “This happened at one of the county facilities last night, so we’re looking at everything.”
Turner also pointed out that this is the first time this has happened in the 30 years that events have been held in City of Houston or Harris County facilities.
“I’m not aware of a single person having died from one of the events, and this city is known for putting on big events, but we do want to do a thorough debriefing here, and look at every single thing,” Turner said.
Many of the injured continue to be treated, Turner said adding that many concert-goers have been reunited with their families.
Turner also said that there were some issues with “what was occurring inside the arena," but he did not specify what those issues were.
Turner expressed his condolences to the family members of those affected by the tragedy.
Some context: At least 50,000 people attended the festival. Authorities have canceled the second day of the event that was scheduled for Saturday night.
Read the mayor's statement:
Travis Scott says he's "absolutely devastated" by Astroworld Festival incident
From CNN’s Keith Allen
Houston rapper Travis Scott released his first statement on Friday’s incident at the Astroworld Festival where at least eight people died, and scores of others were injured, his words came via his verified Twitter account moments ago.
“I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival,” Scott writes.
“Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life,” he continues.
“I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support,” Scott says.
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