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Celebrated American rapper Travis Scott has spoken out about the tragedy that took place at his Astroworld music festival on Friday night.
The unfortunate incident took the lives of 8 victims, who succumbed after a stampede at the packed concert.
“The crowd that had gathered for a performance by rapper Travis Scott began to push toward the front of the stage, causing panic and injuries. People began to fall unconscious, and the mayhem escalated until 9:38 p.m. when a ‘mass casualty incident’ was triggered,” Reuters reported.
Taking to his Twitter handle, the Butterfly Effect rapper released a statement in which he said that he is heartbroken, sending sympathy to victims and their loved ones.
“I am absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life,” he wrote.
“I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support.”
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 6, 2021
About 50,000 people attended the concert at NRG Park in Houston, the hometown of the rapper.
The crowd "for whatever reason began to push and surge towards the front of the stage, which caused the people in the front to be compressed. More than 300 people were treated at a field hospital set up near the festival. Twenty three people were taken to hospitals, where eight of them died, "Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña said in a CNN interview on Saturday morning.
The rapper also posted a clip on his Instagram stories expressing shock and distress at the tragedy.
In the video, a visibly upset Scott said that his fans mean the world to him, adding that he was not aware of the chaos or its seriousness as it unfolded.
“I always want to leave them with a positive experience. I just could have never imagined the severity of the situation. We’ve been working closely with everyone to try and get to the bottom of this,” he said.
The festival, which runs annually was founded by the rapper in 2018, sharing a name with his album- released in the same year.
— ASTROWORLD FEST (@astroworldfest) November 6, 2021
The 2021 line-up for the event included SZA, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Earth, Wind & Fire, 21 Savage, Baby Keem, Chief Keef, Master P, BIA, Don Toliver and Young Thug.
“Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight- especially those we lost and their loved ones. As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into a series of cardiac arrests that took place,” Astroworld Festival said in a statement following the tragedy.
According to Reuters, the victims were notably young, ranging from 27 years down to 14 years.
