The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, names defendants including Apple Music, Scott, rapper Drake and Live Nation, alleging they were negligent and profited “an exorbitant amount” from the event but failed chooses to “cut corners, cut costs and put festival-goers at risk.”
“Many people in the crowd were pushed to the ground and trampled, some trapped and crushed on other concert attendees, while others were crushed on metal fences,” the lawsuit says. . “The resulting catastrophic incident and carnage could have been easily foreseen and prevented if Defendants had acted with reasonable caution in planning such a large-scale festival as the Astroworld Fest. “
The lawsuit seeks $2 billion in damages for “excruciating pain and suffering, loss of income, emotional distress, and medical expenses.”
“My client wants to make sure the defendants are held accountable for their actions and they want to send a message to all performers, event organizers and promoters that what happened at Astroworld can’t happen anymore,” attorney Thomas J. Henry said in a statement.
At least 140 lawsuits have been filed related to the carnival tragedy, according to Harris County Court records.
Witnesses described the event as traumatic
Minutes before Scott took the stage at 9 p.m., more than 260 people had been treated, according to the diary. At 9:33 p.m., police reported “several people being trampled, unconscious in the front.” “MCI Level One” – mass casualty incident – was reported at 9:52 p.m., according to the log.
From 10 p.m. to about 11:40 p.m., 17 people were transported to the hospital, including at least six who suffered cardiac arrest.
“This is something that I will have nightmares about for the rest of my life,” Pollak said. “The team is extremely disappointed about that. Seeing so many young people getting CPR at the same time, it’s just something that no one has to go through.”
“I feel like it’s the end,” said attendee Selena Beltran, as she lost her balance when a crowd around started dancing. “Thinking that was how I was going to die, I was terrified.”
“I didn’t know what to do. It happened so fast but so slowly and I didn’t have time to react. I could only scream,” Beltran added.
It’s unclear what Scott saw from the stage and whether he was aware of crowd conditions, but he continued to perform until about 10:10 p.m. Scott’s attorney said that the artist was not aware of the mass casualty announcement until the next morning.
CNN’s Natasha Chen contributed to this report.
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