Astroworld Festival: Travis Scott out of Vegas festival this weekend, as Houston investigation turns to toxicology reports and possible role of illegal drugs

news7g11/09/2021

6 4 minutes read

Astroworld Festival: Travis Scott out of Vegas festival this weekend, as Houston investigation turns to toxicology reports and possible role of illegal drugs

The most recent improvement comes as investigators flip their consideration to the causes of loss of life for eight attendees after a surge of people rushed towards the stage throughout Scott’s set. The lethal situations have prompted a rising variety of lawsuits on behalf of concertgoers.

Investigators are working to determine all possible causes of loss of life, and injuries to scores of concertgoers, together with whether or not a batch of counterfeit tablets probably laced with fentanyl performed a job, according to The Wall Road Journal citing individuals accustomed to the investigation. CNN is reaching out to authorities for remark relating to The Wall Road Journal’s reporting.

Harris County Decide Lina Hidalgo advised CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday the toxicology report should be a “key half” in serving to assess what occurred Friday night time, saying, “That is going to take weeks.”

Hidalgo mentioned whereas organizers have had issues with crowd management up to now, it’s too early to conclude in any route the precise causes of loss of life.

“There’s a whole lot of proof of drug use. May which were a part of it? It is exhausting for these households to grieve with out solutions,” she mentioned.

It might take as much as a number of weeks earlier than ruling on causes of loss of life, in accordance with Michele Arnold, a spokesperson for the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Workplace.

Astroworld now joins other deadly concert crowd tragedies

In the course of the live performance, a safety officer “was reaching out to restrain or seize a citizen and he felt a prick in his neck,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner mentioned Saturday. The officer went unconscious and was revived after medical employees administered Narcan, a drug used to deal with narcotic overdoses.

Whereas solutions behind the deaths are nonetheless being sought, the buildup to the tragedy is obvious. As a countdown clock earlier than Scott’s efficiency ticked away, concertgoers in the crowd told CNN it grew to become more and more exhausting to breathe as individuals packed in. And as soon as the present began, some attendees say cries for assist went unheard amidst the roar of the music.

“They handed out. They usually have been on the bottom and mainly getting trampled. And nobody would decide them up,” concertgoer Billy Nasser advised CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Monday. “There was simply too many individuals there. It was overcrowded. The best way the barricades have been arrange had individuals trapped in. It was a loss of life lure.”

Houston resident J. Washington signs a remembrance board at a makeshift memorial on November 7, 2021 at the NRG Park in Houston.

At the very least 18 lawsuits filed

Extra attendees are bringing lawsuits in relation to what occurred on the competition, with at the very least 18 actions filed in Harris County District Courtroom as of Monday night.

Occasion organizer Stay Nation Leisure was named as defendants in all however one of many lawsuits whereas Scott was named in most. Different individuals and organizations concerned within the live performance, together with NRG Stadium in addition to actor and musician Drake, have been named in at the very least one of many fits.

Here's what the operations plan for the Astroworld Festival included and didn't include

“The accidents have had a severe impact on the Plaintiff’s well being and well-being. A few of the results are everlasting and can abide with the Plaintiff for a very long time into the long run, if not for his complete life,” one of many lawsuits acknowledged.

Different lawsuits allege severe accidents from being “trampled” throughout the crowd crush in addition to “emotional misery.”

The lawsuit the place Drake is known as accuses him of serving to to incite the gang because the “shock visitor” alongside Scott, each of whom stayed on stage as “the gang grew to become uncontrolled,” the go well with says.

Drake posted on social media Monday, “My coronary heart is damaged for the households and buddies of those that misplaced their lives and for anybody who’s struggling. I’ll proceed to wish for all of them, and will likely be of service in any approach I can.”

On Saturday, Scott tweeted, “I am completely devastated by what happened final night time. My prayers exit to the households and all these impacted by what occurred at Astroworld Competition.”

NRG advised CNN in an announcement they’re unable to remark at the moment. CNN has additionally reached out to Scott, Stay Nation and others named within the fits however has not heard again.

Present continued throughout crowd surge

Scott, the headliner and organizer of the competition, will cowl all funeral costs for many who have been killed, in accordance with an announcement Monday from a consultant.

“Travis stays in energetic conversations with town of Houston, regulation enforcement and native first responders to respectfully and appropriately join with the people and households of these concerned,” the assertion reads. “These are the primary of many steps Travis plans on taking as part of his private vow to help these affected all through their grieving and restoration course of.”

Astroworld promoter Live Nation has a history of safety violations

Some metropolis officers are saying extra duty lies with Scott for persevering with to carry out whereas many within the crowd have been below duress. And crowd management has been a problem at his exhibits up to now.

Scott pleaded responsible to disorderly conduct in Arkansas in 2018, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, after police say he inspired individuals to hurry the stage at a 2017 present. Two different misdemeanor costs, together with inciting a riot, have been dismissed.

Scott maintains he had no concept the extent of what was happening within the crowd throughout Friday’s present. Footage from the live performance’s reside stream additionally confirmed Scott pausing his efficiency and looking out on in obvious confusion as an ambulance pulled into the crowd earlier than ending the live performance.

Houston Hearth Chief Samuel Peña advised CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday he believes if Scott had ended his efficiency sooner, it could have calmed the gang.

Houston's police chief spoke with Travis Scott about safety before a deadly crowd surge left 8 people dead at the Astroworld Festival

“If the lights would have been turned on– [if] the promoter or artist known as for that– it will have chilled the gang, and who is aware of? Who is aware of what the end result would have been? However all people in that venue, ranging from the artist on down, has a duty for public security,” Peña mentioned.

But at a Saturday press convention when requested why the present was not stopped sooner, Police Chief Finner cited potential rioting “when you may have a gaggle that is younger” in a crowd of roughly 50,000 individuals.

Finner mentioned there was a “dialogue between promoters, the hearth division, the police division, and NRG officers” about stopping the occasion.

CNN’s Kay Jones, Jennifer Henderson, Claudia Dominguez, Caroll Alvarado, Sharif Paget, Melissa Alonso, Chloe Melas, Allison Flexner, Chris Boyette, Sarah Jorgensen, Elizabeth Joseph, Tina Burnside and Corey James contributed to this report.

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