FATAL FESTIVAL

TRAVIS SCOTT AND HIS PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND KYLIE JENNER ARE DISTRAUGHT OVER CONCERT DEATHS – AND HE’S FACING QUESTIONS OVER WHAT WENT WRONG

- Jennie Noonan

As a timer ticked down to the start of rapper Travis Scott’s closing set on the first night of his sold-out Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, 50,000 frenzied fans surged towards the stage. “Within 30 seconds of the first song, people began to drown – in other people,” described one concertgoer. “One person fell or collapsed … Once one fell, a hole opened up in the ground. It was like watching a Jenga tower topple. Person after person were sucked down.”

The harrowing account is just one of many in the wake of the chaotic concert that left eight people dead, all aged between 14 and 27. Over 300 people were treated for their injuries on the scene and 25 more were transported to the hospital. Despite the concert being declared a “mass-casualty incident” around 9.39pm, Scott, 30, continued to play his whole set wrapping things up around 10.15pm. In one clip posted to social media, a woman is seen climbing onto a camera platform and screams, “There is somebody dead!” Meanwhile, a male concertgoer climbs up a ladder and screams, “Stop the show!”