According to officials and loved ones of the victims of the horrific crowd crush surge at Astroworld Festival, those that died were all teens and uni students.
At least eight people died and 25 were hospitalised after the mosh pit during Travis Scott’s set at Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas devolved into a “mass casualty event” this weekend, with victims of the event describing people being “trampled to death”.
According to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the deceased victims’ ages range between 14 and 27 years old, per CBSNews. 13 are still hospitalised, at least 11 suffered from cardiac arrest and a 10-year-old is currently in critical condition.
Since the event occurred, families, schools, and local authorities have confirmed the young faces behind the victims of this tragedy.
14-year-old John Hilgert was a Year 9 student at Memorial High School in Northwest Houston and an aspiring baseball player. Spring Branch Independent School District confirmed in a statement that he died in the stampede.
“Our hearts go out to the student’s family and to his friends and our staff at Memorial,” they said. “This is a terrible loss, and the entire MHS family is grieving today.”
Brianna Rodriguez was a 16-year-old from Heights High School in Houston. Downtown Houston representative Erica C Davis described her death as “no level above tragedy”.
“My heart mourns for [the] families and all who experienced this.”
There is no level above Tragedy… my heart mourns for families and all who experienced this. #prayersneeded #OurYouth#thisworldwereraisingourchildrenin praying for this family!!!!! Noviembre de 5 fue un día triste para la familia de Brianna Rodriguez y para nosotros la comunidad pic.twitter.com/MsxFxQA621
— Erica Davis, Elected Harris County School Trustee (@EricaCDavis) November 7, 2021
21-year-old Franco Patino was a third-year mechanical engineering technology student at the University of Dayton in Ohio, and a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, the university’s Hispanic interest fraternity. According to a statement from the uni, he died at the concert.
It is with a very heavy heart, Alpha Psi Lambda shares that our brother, Franco “Cuauhocelotl” Patino, has passed on to Omega Chapter. Franco joined the Alpha Nu Chapter (@univofdayton) in the Spring of 2020 with Los Unidos.#alphapsilambda #omegachapter #familia #inmemoryof pic.twitter.com/94V4D1sK5B
— Alpha Psi Lambda (@AlphaPsiLambda) November 6, 2021
A 23-year-old aspiring model and psych student named Rodolfo Angela Peña was another victim of the “mass casualty event” at Astroworld Festival. The youngest of five brothers, he had dreamed of working for the Border Patrol or with US Customs and Border Protection. Reportedly, he had driven five hours with friends to make the concert.
In a statement on Facebook, Peńa’s cousin Kimberly Escamilla said: “RIP to my cousin, you will be missed. I can’t believe this happened to you at the Astros concert.
“You were always smiling and so nice, and so handsome,” they continued. “I love you.”
These are just some of the victims of the Astroworld incident. It’s hard to reconcile that so many of them are so young but it isn’t hard to believe when you remember that Travis Scott is an artist who is marketed to teens and young adults.
The rapper has performed in Fortnite, a game that’s played mostly by people aged 18 to 24 (per Business of Apps), as well as has his own McDonald’s meal and complimentary commercial. Given that, it wouldn’t be a stretch to question whether that explains why chilling footage of a stampede before the event showed almost exclusively young people.
Earlier this morning Scott and his partner Kylie Jenner made a joint statement about the tragedy, following his previous statement that he was “absolutely devastated” and after Jenner was slammed for posting a photo from the event that clearly showed an ambulance in the crowd.
Yesterday, local authorities confirmed reports of “needle spiking”, following claims that a security guard was jabbed in the neck with a needle. As of publishing, it’s yet to be determined what, if anything, was injected, and who was responsible for the alleged spiking.
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