Eight people died and hundreds were injured in the crowd in front of the concert stage in Houston.
How did the mass panic come about?
The police are looking for answers.
Houston - 50,000 people crowded an open-air stage on Friday night to hear hip-hop superstar Travis Scott.
It was the third "Astroworld" festival in Houston, Texas, which the 29-year-old rapper had organized as a two-day event with a star cast.
But the dazzling artist's appearance ends tragically when a mass panic breaks out in the crowded crowd.
Any help comes too late for eight people
"It was hell," 17-year-old Nick Johnson told the New York Times.
All of a sudden, they all pushed themselves to the stage from behind.
"The pressure was so strong that I couldn't breathe," said Emily Munguia, describing the chaos on CNN.
You screamed for help.
She thought she was going to die, said the 22-year-old concert-goer.
For eight people, including two teenagers, any help comes too late.
The two youngest victims were 14 years and 16 years old, another five were 21 to 27 years old, said the Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, on Saturday afternoon (local time).
The age of the eighth death victim was not known at the time.
25 people were taken to hospitals, including a 10-year-old child, said fire chief Samuel Peña.
Hundreds went to a field hospital on the festival site.
Turner emphasizes that there are many unanswered questions about how the accident came about.
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Rescue workers gather at the Astroworld music festival in Houston.
© Uncredited / KTRK / AP / dpa
People collapsed around him, concert goer Billy Nasser told CNN.
“People were trampled to the ground”, it was a “death trap”.
Meanwhile the concert continued.
Eyewitnesses posted shocking videos online.
One clip shows a girl who climbs onto a platform for cameramen for help and screams in desperation that people would die in front of the stage.
Travis Scott interrupts the concert several times, including briefly, when an ambulance arrives on the premises and the rapper asks security forces for help.
This can be seen on video recordings of concert-goers.
But only shortly after 10 p.m., a good half an hour after the first collapse in front of the stage, the show was canceled.
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Rapper Travis Scott at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston.
© Amy Harris / Invision / AP / dpa
Scott commented on the accident on Saturday morning (local time) on Twitter.
"I'm completely devastated by what happened last night," wrote the 29-year-old rapper.
He will pray for those affected and their relatives.
The Houston police have their full support to solve the "tragic loss of life".
The investigation is ongoing
Police said Saturday that there would be a thorough investigation.
There were reports on social media of allegedly inadequate security measures and emergency relief workers who were unable to cope with the situation.
There were also eyewitness reports, according to TMZ.com, that someone in the crowd injected a drug.
Police chief Troy Finner told the press that one of the security forces felt a stab in the neck and passed out.
Paramedics could have resuscitated him with emergency medication for an opiate overdose.
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According to the organizers, artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, SZA and Bad Bunny should also perform at the two-day festival.
The concerts planned for Saturday have been canceled.
Rapper Scott organized the first Astroworld Festival in his hometown of Houston in 2018.
The rapper, also known as La Flame and Cactus Jack, had released his third album that year, entitled "Astroworld".
pic.twitter.com/ijXKslw7E2
- TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 6, 2021
Scott is in a relationship with reality TV star Kylie Jenner (24), they are parents of Stormi, who was born in 2018.
Jenner is currently expecting her second child.
According to media reports, the young entrepreneur was among the audience in Houston with her sister Kendall Jenner (26) and daughter Stormi.
dpa
