Astroworld news latest Calls to boycott Travis Scott ramp up as rapper is accused of negligence

Nurse reveals chaos of Astroworld in detailed eye-witness account

Travis Scott’s lawyer has criticised what he called “finger-pointing” and “inconsistent messaging” by Houston police and officials in the wake of the deadly tragedy at Astroworld, instead urging them to get on with investigating Friday’s incident so that repeats in future can be avoided.

Meanwhile, at least 58 lawsuits have been filed in Harris County District Court in connection with the Astroworld disaster, as of Wednesday.

It comes after Houston’s police chief told a news conference that officials didn’t have the power to stop Scott’s performance as the disaster unfolded and that the “ultimate authority to end the show is with the production and the entertainer”.

TikTok was also struggling to control viral conspiracy theories falsely claiming that the deaths were part of a Satanic ritual.

Two criminal investigations and more than 30 lawsuits are now probing what went wrong at the Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas on Friday night, when a crowd surge killed at least people and injured hundreds more.

A nine-year-old boy is in a medically induced coma following his injuries, and a 22-year-old student has been declared brain dead.

Astroworld founder and headliner Travis Scott, who was performing when the crush happened, has said he is “devastated”.

Follow the latest updates live below.Show latest update 1636660071Festival-goer Bharti Shahani has died of injuries sustained at Astroworld

Bharti Shahani, a 22-year-old student caught up in the Astroworld crush, has died from her injuries, said her family’s attorney during a press conference.

Her passing brings the death toll from the Astroworld tragedy to a total of 9.

Ms Shahani had been on a ventilator for almost a week since the event but showed no brain activity after her hospitalization.

Her father described her as ‘caring’ and said she dreamed of being an engineer and had a bright future.

He said the family want justice for her death.

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 19:471636660067Festival-goer Bharti Shahani has died of injuries sustained at Astroworld

Bharti Shahani, a 22-year-old student caught up in the Astroworld crush, has died from her injuries, said her family’s attorney during a press conference.

Her passing brings the death toll from the Astroworld tragedy to a total of 9.

Ms Shahani had been on a ventilator for almost a week since the event but showed no brain activity after her hospitalization.

Her family have said they want justice for her death.

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 19:471636658726Fire chief denied access to venue ahead of festival

The president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighter Association said a district fire chief was denied access to NRG Park twice before the festival.

According to Patrick Lancton, the chief of Station 21 visited that morning to familiarise himself with the grounds, something he said is “normal.”

“As with any big, large-scale event he took a ride over and said ‘hey, let’s check everything out,’” Mr Lancton told CNN, explaining, “He would be the one taking command if something happened and determine what resources are needed.”

According to Mr Lancton, the district fire chief was denied access by security staff, then the head of security and was given a map of the venue instead.

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 19:251636655633Calls to boycott Travis Scott intensifying

A movement calling for rapper Travis Scott to be boycotted has ramped up since the Astroworld concert tragedy in Houston last Friday, as #canceltravisscott trended on Twitter.

Online users, including former fans, are pushing to block Mr Scott’s music on Spotify and stop him performing at Coachella in April next year.

As videos from the ill-fated concert showed, Mr Scott continued to perform for nearly 40 minutes after a mass casualty incident was declared at the concert.

‘I wish that cancel culture would actually do its job and de-platform him,’ a former Travis Scott fan reportedly said.

Maanya Sachdeva has more on the story here:

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 18:331636655629Calls to boycott Travis Scott intensifying

A movement calling for rapper Travis Scott to be boycotted has ramped up since the Astroworld concert tragedy in Houston last Friday, as #canceltravisscott trended on Twitter.

Online users, including former fans, are pushing to block Travis Scott’s music on Spotify and stop him performing at Coachella in April next year.

As videos from the ill-fated concert showed, Scott continued to perform for nearly 40 minutes after a mass casualty incident was declared at the concert.\

‘I wish that cancel culture would actually do its job and de-platform him,’ a former Travis Scott fan reportedly said.

Maanya Sachdeva has more on the story here:

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 18:331636651803‘His little face has been engraved in my mind’ says man who helped 9-year-old victim

One of the people who helped Ezra Blount, the 9-year-old crushed by concertgoers during the Astroworld festival, has spoken about the tragedy. Andy Rios said he took Ezra from a security guard who was struggling to lift Ezra over the barrier.

“I caught him, and the next thing you know, I turned around, and I just started running and screaming to tell people to get out of my way,” said Mr Rios.

“His little face has been engraved in my mind,” he told ABC13.

Mr Rios said it was hard to get through to the crowd and he was forced to stop and do CPR before reaching the medic tent.

Ezra was later brought to Texas Children’s Hospital, where he remains in a medically induced coma. His family said he is showing no brain activity.

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 17:301636651111Travis Scott called injured fans ‘heroes’ after past accidents

Travis Scott captioned an Instagram post from 2014: “It’s not a show until someone pass out,” and separately shared a picture of medics attending to a fan, writing: “Last day of the tour was tonight very wild. To that kid who blackout. Ur a hero.” reports The Sun.

The rapper also shared footage of fans rushing into festival grounds in November 2019, at an event in which a stampede left three people injured.

He captioned it: “Da youth dem control the frequency. Everyone have fun. Ragers set the tone when I come out tonight. Be safe rage hard. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Mr Scott is being sued for negligence and has been accused of inciting chaos in crowds on numerous previous occasions, reports Buzzfeed.

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 17:181636648871Communications broke down at festival say firefighters

Multiple issues with medical and security comms at the event have been flagged by the Houston Firefighters Union.

Firefighters say they were not given radios to communicate with medics, only a list of cell phone numbers â€" but service was almost non-existent at that time, NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin reports.

The Union President said emergency personnel communicating in that way is unprecedented.

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 16:411636647589Concert-goers traumatised after witnessing Astroworld crush

Astroworld attendee Bryan Espinoza says he has been unable to sleep since witnessing the tragedy unfold at the festival on Friday.

He told CNN that he feared for his life during a crowd surge at the music festival that killed eight people died and injured dozens more.

“I saw people screaming in front of my face, just trying to fight for their lives, basically. Everyone’s life was in danger and I just saw people passed out, bodies on the floor, just a lot of stuff you don’t see on a daily basis,” said Mr Espinoza. “At one point I thought I wasn’t going to make it.”

Helen.Elfer11 November 2021 16:191636645568Brothers say the festival was ‘chaos’ from the moment they entered

Two brothers, Jonathan and Bryan Espinoza told CNN that they witnessed "chaos" from the moment they entered the Astroworld Festival.

"While we’re walking to get our ticket scanned in, fans immediately bust down a fence," Jonathan Espinoza told CNN’s John Berman on Thursday.

"You have cops trying to stop them, but I mean, there’s about 50 people that just break the fence down (and) immediately start running."

"When you start off poorly, I don’t get how you would expect to finish with success," he added.

Eleanor Sly11 November 2021 15:46

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