11/6/2021- 9:35 p.m.
At least eight people were killed and dozens more injured at a music festival in Houston Friday night after a large crowd “started to compress toward the front of the stage,” the city’s fire chief said at a news conference.
The crowd poured in, during a concert by the rapper Travis Scott, “caused some panic and it caused some injuries,” said fire chief Samuel Peña. The concert was part of the Astroworld music festival.
Twenty-two people were taken to nearby hospitals by emergency services, Chief Peña said, adding that 11 of those patients had suffered cardiac arrest. More than 300 people were treated at a “field hospital” at the site, he said.
The exact causes of death will be determined by the coroner, who is investigating the episode, Chief Peña said.
“Our hearts are broken,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at the news conference. “People go to these events looking for a good time,” she said, adding, “It’s not the kind of event you expect to learn about fatalities.”
