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At least eight people were killed in Houston on Friday night after a huge crowd gathered for the Astroworld music festival began to compress near the stage area, causing a panic, officials said.
"People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic," Houston fire Chief Sam Pena told reporters.
"This was a tragic night," he added.
"Our hearts are broken," Lina Hidalgo, the Harris County judge, 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 you go to where you expect to find out about fatalities. … Obviously, this is the last place we want to be – especially after we’ve been through so much as a community. But we have incredibly capable law enforcement officials here."
The show was soon ended and Saturday's scheduled Day 2 was canceled.
The event was held at NRG Park. Music fans had gathered to see performances by singer Travis Scott and others. The crowd totaled about 50,000 people, the fire chief said.
Scott also performed at the same event in 2019, when a similar but less tragic panic occurred.
One 10-year-old child was critically injured. Officials were working to confirm the identities of the deceased. "We don't even have identification on some of these individuals," Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said early Saturday.
Houston officials transported 23 people to hospitals, 11 of which were in cardiac arrest and undergoing CPR while being transported. The cause of death for the eight who lost their lives will be determined by the medical examiner.
Houston police Chief Troy Finner and fire Chief Sam Pena address reporters regarding Friday's mass casualty incident. (Houston Police Department)
At least 300 patients were seen at an onsite field hospital.
Medical personnel were hired for the festival but they became "quickly overwhelmed" by the disaster.
Around 3 a.m. CT, Houston fire officials tweeted out that festival goers who were searching for missing family members or friends could gather at the Wyndham Hotel on Kirby Street.
The festival put out a statement Saturday morning urging anyone with information on what happened to reach out to the Houston Police Department.
"Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight – especially those we lost and their loved ones," Astroworld tweeted. "We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind the festival will no longer be held on Saturday."
Travis Scott performs at Day 1 of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston. (Photo by ) (Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
Finner indicated that Live Nation was cooperating with the investigation and allowing authorities to review video of the event.
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Finner said the event had a "good security plan," with 367 police officers and 241 security officers on hand.
Finner said his department would look into any potential criminal activity at the event. "We've heard rumors of people injecting some people of drugs. So I want to check all that out."
Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner each posted video from the festival to their respective Instagram stories.
Earlier Friday, scores of fans were seen storming through barricades and security personnel to enter the festival, Fox 26 Houston reported.
The crowd watches as Travis Scott performs at Astroworld Festival at NRG park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021 in Houston. Several people died and numerous others were injured in what officials described as a surge of the crowd at the music festival while Scott was performing. Officials declared a "mass casualty incident" just after 9 p.m. Friday during the festival where an estimated 50,000 people were in attendance, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told reporters at a news conference. (Jamaal Ellis/Houston Chronicle via AP) (Jamaal Ellis/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Concertgoers described their harrowing experiences on social media.
"I almost died, and I’m not exaggerating," wrote Twitter user with the handle RafaRochaJ. "When I managed to get out I yelled at the police, the lifeguards, and those who were in the VIP what was happening they literally all ignored me, I’m still in shock."
"I was working security at #ASTROWORLDFest, and I was pulling ppl being squished out of the pits," a Twitter user with the handle NumeroUdo posted. "People died today."
"Someone pulled me and my girlfriend over the barricade and that’s probably why we’re alive," another user wrote.
"Within the first 30 seconds of the first song, people started to drown – in other people," user seannafaith wrote. "There were so many people."
"The rush of people became tighter and tighter," she explained. "Breathing became something only a few were capable of. The rest were crushed or unable to breathe in the thick, hot air."
"There was nowhere to go."
"One person fell, or collapsed, it doesn't matter how it started," @seannafaith continued. "Once one fell, a hole opened in the ground. it was like watching a Jenga Tower topple. Person after person were sucked down. You could not guess from which direction the shove of hundreds of people would come next. You were at the mercy of the wave."
"There was a floor of bodies, of men and women, below two layers of fallen people above them," she wrote.
Fox News' Peter Aitken and Paul Conner contributed to this report.
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