If you’re in a crowded event such as a concert, your location could determine your safety. A Washington Post investigation shows that at least seven of the 10 victims who were fatally injured in the Astroworld Festival crowd surge were clustered in a small area enclosed on three sides by metal barriers that became dangerously crowded.
What the Investigation Shows
The review, which was based on dozens of videos, interviews with witnesses, and analysis by crowd experts, shows how a crowd surge at a performance by rapper Travis Scott in Houston turned one pocket of the audience into an epicenter of chaos and distress. Ten fans including a 9-year-old boy died at the Nov. 5 Astroworld concert and hundreds were injured making it one of the deadliest concerts in the country’s history.
The Post found through its investigation that most of those who died were situated close to each other in the viewing area’s south quadrant, where witnesses described people collapsing under the pressure of the crowd. A criminal investigation into this horrific incident is ongoing and the causes of the deaths have not yet been made public. An analysis by researchers shows that in some sections of the tightly compressed area where the fatalities were concentrated, there were as little as 1.85 square feet per person.
Unsafe Design Exposed
At that density, people are in the midst of a crowd that is at risk of dangerously collapsing on itself, two crowd science experts told the Post whose reconstruction of the Astroworld event (including details evident in exclusively obtained videos) underscores unanswered questions about how long the concert was allowed to continue after fans were already pleading for help and getting emergency care.
Crowd experts consulted by the Post also said that the layout of the barriers in itself was faulty because it did not allow concert organizers to cut off the flow of people surging toward the surge. It’s an unsafe design, they said, because it is not possible to regulate the number of people who are in a high-pressure area.
Fight for Justice and Change
Based on this investigation and other facts that have been emerging from the case, it appears that the Astroworld organizers were more focused on getting maximum profit from the event and less concerned about public safety. Numerous lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of families that have lost loved ones and people who have suffered serious injuries as a result of the surge.
Our law firm is taking on these cases as well and we will fight hard not only to make sure these victims and their families are compensated but also to ensure that organizers of such events think twice before they expose the viewing public to such deadly circumstances. Going to a concert should never become a life or death situation.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2021/what-happened-astroworld-travis-scott/
