‘It was like watching a Jenga tower topple’: Astroworld fan speaks out about being ignored by concert crew

On November 5, the world was shocked when we learned of the devastation that took place during the Astroworld tragedy.

At least 50,000 people were in attendance at Astroworld, a concert in Houston that was founded and headlined by rapper Travis Scott, when a crowd surge caused mass panic and resulted in 300 injuries and ten deaths, including a nine-year-old boy who passed away after being placed into an induced coma.

Now, as examinations into exactly how such an atrocity could occur, many fans are speaking out, saying they tried to alert cameramen and security but their pleas were ignored. These scenes of desperation were caught on camera, as videos continue to emerge on social media of the concert chaos.

‘A hole opened in the ground’

“My friend began to gasp for breath, and she told me we needed to get out. We tried. There was nowhere to go. The shoving got harder and harder. If someone’s arms had been up, it was no longer a possibility to put it down. So, people began to choke one another as the mass swayed. It became more and more violent.”

Both girls began to scream for help and soon others joined in their pleas, gasping for air as bodies pushed in even closer. But despite their cries, the security nearby took no notice.

“None of that [help] came,” she wrote. “We continued to drown. More and more. One person fell, or collapsed, it doesn’t matter how it started. Once one fell, a hole opened in the ground. It was like watching Jenga tower topple. Person after person was sucked down.”

She describes it as a massive “sinkhole” that opened up and kept pulling people down. She heard “animal shrieks” all around her and even came face-to-face with a man who was lying on the ground.

“You could not guess from which direction the shove of hundreds of people would come next. You were at the mercy of the wave. I watched my friend be dragged away from me and lost sight of her. I began to realize at that moment that there is a way to die that not many people know about. Being trampled to death.”

“I felt a primal fear rip through me, and I’m not sure anyone understood the magnitude of the situation below,” she wrote. “I screamed there were people on the floor. There were people. Unconscious. Being trampled by every foot that slammed into the ground as each individual tried to keep themselves upright.”

The aftermath

The concert started at 9pm and continued for 40 minutes before Travis Scott briefly paused and directed EMTs to an unconscious fan. It was around this time that firefighters and police officers declared Astroworld a “mass casualty” event, after reports of injuries and medical distress throughout the crowd. 

Scott continued singing until 10.15pm and was joined on the stage by rapper Drake towards the end of the concert.

There has since been massive controversy online, with people blaming a multitude of factors, including the lack of organisation and preparedness from Live Nation (the company behind the event), the ignorance of Scott (who continued to perform despite what was going on in the crowd and the appearance of multiple ambulances in the crowd) and the overly hyped fans (who had already shown excess energy by pushing through security barriers before the start of the show). 

Scott did issue a brief statement on Twitter offering prayers and condolences to those impacted by the concert’s tragic events, but the majority of fans are far from sympathetic. So far, at least 36 lawsuits are in the works against Live Nation Entertainment, promoter ScoreMore Holdings, Scott and Drake, according to the Houston Chronicle.

While mosh pits and uncontrollable crowds are not rare at concerts, hopefully the impact of this tragedy can help raise awareness of these dangers, and urge the entertainment industry to put proper safeguards in place going forward.