8 People Died, Including A 14-Year-Old And 16-Year-Old, At Astroworld Music Festival After A Crowd Surge

At least eight people, including two minors, were killed and dozens more were injured at Astroworld music festival in Texas on Friday night, after the crowd surged toward the stage, officials said.

The eight people who died included a 14-year-old, a 16-year-old, two 21-year-olds, two 23-year-olds, and a 27-year-old, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday.

At around 9 p.m., during rapper Travis Scott's set at the sold-out concert in Houston, the crowd "began to compress towards the front of the stage," Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said at a press conference late on Friday.

"That caused some panic and it began to cause some injuries. People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic," he said.

The "mass casualty incident" happened at around 9:38 p.m., Peña said. Twenty-five people were transported to hospitals, 11 of whom were in cardiac arrest.

As of Saturday, Turner said, 13 people are still hospitalized, including five people under the age of 18. A 10-year-old is in critical condition.

Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite, who was near the front of the crowd, said the mass casualty incident "seemed like it happened just over the course of a few minutes."

"Suddenly we had several people down on the ground experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode. We immediately started doing CPR and moving people right then," he said.

Satterwhite said he then went to meet with the event promoters and Live Nation, the organizer, and they "agreed to end early in the interest of public safety."

Video from the concert shows Scott, who was performing, stop his show as an ambulance makes its way through the crowd. "What the fuck is that?" he says, pointing at the ambulance.

Scott's girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, who was at the concert and shared videos from the back of the audience, also appeared to capture an emergency services vehicle driving slowly through the massive crowd.

The rapper addressed the incident in a statement Saturday, saying he was "absolutely devastated" by what happened the night before.

"My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival," Scott said. "Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life."

It's unclear what happened exactly that led to the deaths and injuries, and officials urged people not to speculate. Peña said the medical examiner is investigating the cause of death of the eight people who were killed.

"Our hearts are broken," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. "People go to these events looking for a good time, a chance to unwind, to make memories. It’s not the kind of event where you expect to find out about fatalities."

Officials said 50,000 people were at the concert when the incident happened.

Though event promoters had medical services and transport units on site, Peña said, they were "quickly overwhelmed when the crowd started falling out," prompting dozens of fire department units to step in and help. More than 300 people were treated at the field hospital.

An annual music festival produced by Scott, this year's Astroworld event, which the Houston rapper headlined, was sold out under an hour when tickets were released in May. About 100,000 people were expected to attend, Variety reported. The festival was not held last year due to the pandemic.

In a statement addressing the tragedy early on Saturday, organizers said they were supporting local officials in their investigation. The Saturday concert has been canceled.

SZA, who performed before Scott's set, tweeted Saturday that she was "speechless about last night.

"I’m actually in shock n don’t even know what to say .. just praying for everyone in Houston especially the families of those that lost their lives," she wrote.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state's Department of Public Safety will support the investigation.

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