Complaints were mounting Wednesday against the organizers of the Astroworld festival, which took place in Houston, Texas, accused of failing to provide the necessary security measures to avoid the crowd movement that left eight dead and dozens injured. November 5.
This includes rapper Travis Scott, main organizer of the festival and present on stage at the time of the tragedy.
“One person fell, and the others followed like dominoes” on top of each other, Mohit Bellani told local television ABC13.
His cousin Bharti Shahani, a 22-year-old student at Texas A&M University, was with him at the concert. She was placed on life support at the Methodist Hospital in Houston.
“There were bodies piled up, we struggled to come to the surface and breathe to stay alive,” Mohit Bellani also testified.
Bharti’s father, Sunny Shahani, said that “his chances of survival [étaient] null ”, according to the doctors, because his brain stopped working.
Ezra Blount, 9, had gone to the concert with his father, who was carrying him on his shoulders when he fell to the ground under pressure from the crowd.
The little boy was “trampled on” and “fighting for his life” at a hospital in Houston, where he was placed on a ventilator, lawyer Ben Crump said.
“Concerts and music festivals like this are meant to be safe for spectators of all ages who enjoy music in a controlled environment,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “None of this is true regarding the Astroworld festival. “
As the police investigation continues, more than 60 complaints have been filed, on behalf of festival victims, against Travis Scott, the promoters, concert site officials and several companies associated with the festival.
They allegedly failed to provide a safe environment and the necessary security measures surrounding the concert, according to legal documents consulted by AFP.
Faced with calls for help, the organizers had waited several tens of minutes before stopping the music and evacuating the 50,000 spectators from NRG Park.
” Out of control “
A complaint also targets Drake, surprise guest of the festival, believing that the Canadian rapper “helped” Travis Scott to “incite disorder and chaos” by staying on the stage while the crowd became “out of control”.
This tragedy was “predictable and preventable,” said lawyer Tony Buzbee, who represents at least 35 plaintiffs, citing a first crowd movement in the afternoon, when spectators were trampled in a stampede. doors openning.
In the complaint filed on behalf of Manuel Souza, he points out that “on several occasions during the concert […] emergency rescue vehicles drove through the huge crowd to help spectators who had suffered serious injuries ”.
But the organizers “made the decision to let the concert continue, despite the extreme risk of injury to spectators which increased every moment.”
The drama “has been brewing for months, if not years,” says the lawyer, referring to an incident that occurred during the previous edition of the festival, in 2019.
Another complaint, filed by Joseph Ferguson on behalf of two minors injured during the concert, also denounces the “two almost similar incidents” which occurred at the opening of the festival.
In 2019, “the crowd swept over a permanent barrier […] and stormed the entrance to the festival. Spectators were pushed to the ground by the crowd and found themselves trapped under the stampede, unable to get up. Many of them suffered serious injuries, ”it is written.
On the evening of the tragedy, the crowd began to rush to the front of the stage at around 9:00 p.m. local time, causing panic and the first injuries.
Then spectators unable to get out of the crowd fell, which generated an additional movement of panic, according to the authorities.
The spectators “were crushed against metal barriers by the ferocious crowd which had been fanned by the encouragements of Travis Scott to be unleashed”, assures Joseph Ferguson.
The concert was finally stopped around 10:15 p.m.