Astroworld Festival Tragedy: Experts Weigh In On What Went Wrong On Show That Killed 8 People

Travis Scott
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Experts weighed in after eight people who attended Travis Scott's Astroworld festival died.

Scott's highly-anticipated tour in Houston's NRG Park on November 5 turned into chaos when a stampede happened, killing eight attendees and injuring hundreds of people. John Hilgert, Franco Patino, Danish Baig, Brianna Rodriguez, Rudy Peña, Jacob E. Jurinek, and Axel Acosta were the victims of the tragedy. One of those who died has yet to be identified.

While the attendees' cause of deaths remains unknown, experts already shared their two cents on what happened, saying that Scott is no longer new to harming his concertgoers.

What Went Wrong On Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival?

Rolling Stone recently compiled all the experts' findings of the show's warning signs that people missed before and during the event.

In the past years, the rapper has already performed in wild crowds that almost cost fans' lives. In 2017, Kyle Green was left injured during the same show when Scott encouraged another fan to jump from the second-floor balcony. Though Green did not want to jump, he was forced over the edge of a railing, causing him to suffer from several vertebrae injuries.

Six months after the incident, he filed a lawsuit against Scott.

"Security picked him up like a sack of potatoes and carried him toward the front. Travis offered him his ring. Then they finally carried him out. Unfortunately, he was paralyzed," Green's lawyer Howard Hershenhorn said at that time.

During his 2015 Summer Jam concert, he asked the crowd to join him on stage, leading fans to climb over the barricades.

Meanwhile, his 2019 Astroworld festival faced the same tragedy as fans rushed into the event and harmed at least three people who sustained minor leg injuries.

Another warning sign reportedly occurred during his recent Astroworld festival. Around 2:00 pm on November 5, dozens of people rushed through the VIP security entrance, breaking metal detectors.

A concert insurance expert, who refused to publish their name, said the organizers were unprepared to handle such a massive crowd. Concert-safety expert Paul Wertheimer shared the same sentiment and said that everyone overlooked what happened.

"It was obvious to everybody that the crowds were going to be difficult, because everybody has been so cooped up. And young people want to get on with their lives and have fun and have some camaraderie. Everybody knew that. But the industry didn't prepare for it," he said.

Meanwhile, the president of the Event Safety Alliance blamed the out-of-control audience instead over the recent tragedy.

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Astroworld, Travis scott
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