Travis Scott’s Astroworld tragedy, who takes the responsibility?

On November 5th, around 50,000 people gathered at NRG Park in Houston to see rap star Travis Scott perform at the sold-out Astroworld Festival. The attendees expected a weekend full of live music from a top-class line-up. Above all, the organizers assured them that they would be protected. On the Astroworld website, you’ll find this disclaimer: “Your health, safety, and security are always our top priority.” In reality, the festival quickly turned tragic. Eight people were dead by the end of the night, and hundreds more were injured after thousands of people tried to get closer to the stage, causing a crowd surge. The youngest person killed was a 14-year-old freshman in high school. As families prepare to bury their loved ones and horrific information continues to emerge, people are asking an essential question: How do we stop this from happening again? 

 

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It may take several weeks for law enforcement to give a complete explanation of what happened in Houston that night. Nevertheless, details have gradually surfaced, helping to explain why this festival is dangerous. A few hours before the concert, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner (Troy Finner) approached Scott directly and shared his concerns about the crowd. Social media videos showed that hundreds of people pushed through the roadblocks to enter the festival without security checks. Scott is one of the most popular rap artists in the country, and he is known to encourage his fans to be "angry" at his concerts. 

So what really happened that night? 

Crowd surge is a fatal phenomenon, partly because it isn’t intentional. People closer to the back of the crowd may not know that people further away get stuck as they move forward. Unlike a stampede where people may consciously trample on each other, those caught in a surge in crowds are most likely to die from lack of oxygen. Overcrowding and poor crowd control will increase the chance of surge. 

Source: CNN

According to those who attended the concert, the trouble started when Scott's performance began to count down. Participants closest to the stage told that as people become restless and try to get closer, breathing becomes more difficult. As soon as Scott came to power, the situation became dangerous. A fan was trapped in the "Human Sinkhole" and realized that some of her concert audiences were dying. In a now-viral video, she climbs up the ladder and begs the cameraman to stop the show and bring medical staff. He ignored her. 
Along with not being adequately prepared for large crowds, the Astroworld festival lacked the robust medical response expected for an event that size. An ICU nurse shared her harrowing experience of losing consciousness, being carried to safety, and jumping in to help on-site paramedics once she woke up. She wrote that the medical team was unprepared and understaffed and lacked basic medical equipment. Due to the chaotic scene, well-meaning people mistakenly performed CPR and performed CPR on injured people who still had a pulse. Improper CPR reduces your chances of survival and can lead to fractures. 

If this is an unintentional tragedy, while Travis Scott receives all the criticizes? 

Source: Internet

Travis Scott, as the concert’s organizer, is being criticized for his unprepared organizing management. He is also said to be too cruel when he still continued the show, ignoring how chaos the crowds were at that moment. 
After the concert, there are tons of posts on Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter about people desperately calling for help, but then the only thing they got was ignorance from the staffs. 
“Travis Scott’s whole aesthetic is about rebellion,” said HipHopDX editor-in-chief Trent Clark, who has attended several of his performances. “The shows have a lot of raging. With the death of punk rock, hip-hop has indeed adopted and patterned the new generation of mosh pits. It’s not uncommon to see a lot of crowding and raging or complete wild behavior at a Travis Scott show.” 

How do the authorities and related firms react?  

 
Scott paused the show multiple times after noticing an ambulance in the crowd but ultimately kept performing, even as the night became a mass casualty event. In an apology posted after the event, he said he kept playing because he didn’t know the severity of the situation. There’s little doubt that the musician and others associated with planning Astroworld feel horrible about the tragedy, but could it have been foreseen or handled differently? Festival-goers are filing lawsuits against Scott, Entertainment company Live Nation, concert promoter Scoremore, and other event organizers. Some of the plaintiffs injured during the show are alleging negligence and gross negligence. 
In court, negligence is defined as the failure to exercise reasonable care, but gross negligence requires a higher standard. For gross negligence to apply, an actor must have had actual, subjective awareness of extreme risk and chosen to proceed with “conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others.”  
As information continues to come out, we’ll learn who is at fault for this preventable tragedy. From the apparent lack of an emergency plan to a rapper who has used his songs to encourage mosh pit injuries, it’s clear that organizers could have made different decisions. The concert venue is owned by Harris County, which raises the question of whether the local government could have done anything to stop the disaster. 

Are concert accidents common? 

Another Astroworld concert which was held in November 2019 also made many people go to the hospitals because of the crowd surge. New York Times even described it as “one of the deadliest shows ever in US recent history.” 
There are at least 9 tragic concerts that are similar to this Astroworld. One of those is the concert of The Who in 1979, making 11 people die. Recently, there also Ariana Grande’s concert that made 24 people pass away. 

Is there any other factor causing the death? 

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Yes, drugs.  
In the tragedy of Astroworld, drugs also play a certain role. In addition to reports of people being secretly injected with stimulants (including a security guard) during the chaos, many people were under the influence of the drug and did not have time to react. 
Drug use at concerts is not uncommon. Science has shown that it increases the perception of music for users. According to a 2018 survey, about 73.4% of people used drugs during a music festival in Australia. 
Newspapers often mention drug overdose as a common cause of death at music festivals. However, the consequences of stimulant use are influenced by many reasons: Individual, environment and drugs. 
From there, there are possible consequences: being harassed when lacking of alertness, panic or scuffle, violence. 

How to protect ourselves in this situation? 

First of all, it is crucial to go in a group of friends, so that we can look up to each other and protect each other from unwanted situations. There always should have at least one mature person that always stays conscious. 
Besides, people should be prepared for the worst emergency cases and have a detailed plan for that. Be aware of the Red-card for emergencies. 
In the end, protect yourself and play in a safe way.