Astroworld Festival – latest: Travis Scott ‘devastated’ by deadly tragedy as mayor calls for investigation

Houston mayor Sylvester Turner said the dead ranged from age 16 to age 23, telling CNN: “This is a young crowd.”

He also confirmed that one of the injured people was a child, perhaps as young as ten years old.

The mayor of Houston has said he will “leave [no] stone unturned” as he launches a “thorough review and investigation” of the Astroworld disaster in his city.

Sylvester Turner, a Democrat who took office in 2015, told CNN he was demanding a “detailed briefing” from Live Nation, the concert organiser, and local emergency agencies on how the event got so out of control.

“We’re not going to leave any stone unturned,” he said on Saturday. “We want to look at every single detail to determine what led up to it and what additional steps that need to take place to keep it from happening again, especially in this city.”

He also told the New York Times: “We had more security over there than we had at the [baseball] World Series games… we are looking at all potential causes of this incident or what caused the cardiac arrest. We’re not taking anything off the table.”

Houston police are watching camera footage and talking with concert promoters and witnesses to find out what happened.

The concert company behind the Astroworld Festival was fined for serious safety violations in 2017 by the US government, records reveal.

Live Nation Worldwide was issued a $13,500 (£10,001) penalty by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which was reduced to $2,700 by a judge after appeal.

OSHA’s listing does not give precise details of the problem, but cites a US law regulating harnesses and restraint systems designed to protect employees from falling while working at heights.

It gave the “gravity” of the violation as 10, the highest possible rating.

In another incident, the company was fined $11,000 when a non-union employee was hit by a falling six foot long steel post at an event in California, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The Chronicle also reports that Live Nation was sued by a concert guest who broke her leg during a stampede at a Gwen Stefani show in North Carolina in 2016.

That lawsuit describes how a stray remark from Ms Stefani about seating being available near the stage triggered “a stampede rush of patrons from the lawn seating area through the reserved seating area and toward the front of the performance stage, with people knocking over and breaching the security barricades and other security matter”.

Beyond all that, Live Nation remains under special monitoring by the US Justice Department due to allegedly breaking competition law when it merged with Ticketmaster in 2010.

Officials claimed Live Nation had repeatedly retaliated against or threatened concert venues who tried to use competing ticket companies.

Rapper and festival headliner Travis Scott has also issued a statement.

“I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night,” he wrote. “My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened.

“Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.

Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support.

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has issued a statement on the accident:

My colleague Sheila Flynn has done a roundup of everything we know so far about the Astroworld disaster. You can read it here:

The Astroworld Festival was founded only four years ago by Travis Scott himself, on the nostalgic grounds of a defunct amusement park called Six Flags Astroworld, which closed in 2005.

Mr Scott, 30, grew up in Houston and visited the park “countless times” as a child, but the site stood vacant for years as its owners repeatedly tried and failed to sell it off.

Mr Scott decided named his third album after the park, telling GQ in 2017: “They tore down Astroworld to build more apartment space. That’s what it’s going to sound like, like taking an amusement park away from kids.

“We want it back. We want the building back. That’s why I’m doing it. It took the fun out of the city.”

The inaugural festival in 2019 drew 50,000 guests, and the 2020 edition was cancelled due to Covid, so hopes were high for 2021.

According to CNN, there have been no previous reports of safety issues at the festival.

Assistant fire chief Larry Satterwhite has said that most of the people taken away in emergency vehicles were in their twenties.

Addressing earlier reports of people breaking through barricades to enter the festival without tickets, he said: “A lot of times, kids don’t make the best decisions, because they’re young and amped up…

“I just think it was so many people, and passion, to see this entertainer – I don’t know, and a lot of bad decisions.”

Citing inside sources, the Reporter said that unknowing people, including a child of 10, may have been targeted, potentially resulting in panic as guests ran for safety.

Astroworld Festival itself has issued a statement, cancelling the show today:

“Our hearts are with the Astroworld family tonight – especially those we lost and their loved ones. We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind, the festival will no longer be held on Saturday.

“As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this please reach out to @HoustonPolice.

“Thank you to our partners at the Houston Police Department, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their response and support.”