The head of Houston’s police force has walked back his claim that a security guard may have been attacked with a drugged needle during the Astroworld disaster.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Chief Troy Finner said that his officers had now interviewed the security guard and found that “no one injected drugs into him”.
The chief’s previous statement on Saturday had rippled across social media, with some claiming it as evidence that the deadly crowd crush had been sparked by deliberate drug attacks.
Two criminal investigations and more than 30 lawsuits are now probing what wrong at the Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas on Friday night, which 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. Horrifying footage has emerged showing how guests tried and failed to stop the show before things got worse.
Meanwhile, Astroworld founder and headliner Travis Scott, who was performing when the crush happened, has said he is “devastated”, offered to cover the costs of the victims’ funerals, and also offered survivors one free month of online therapy.
Kim Kardashian, Drake, and Mr Scott’s partner Kylie Jenner have all made statements on social media, with Drake saying his “heart is broken”.
