What Happened at Astroworld?
Story by Serenity Bussey. Photo courtesy of ABC News.
On Friday November 5th 2021, many lost their lives while doing something deemed enjoyable. To fill you in, ten people died in a crowd surge at the Astroworld concert held that Friday in Houston, Texas. An article from CNN says that investigators are still working to determine the causes of death for these ten victims. Travis Scott has announced that he’ll pay the funeral costs for the victims and fund mental health support for survivors, according to the article. Scott has been running Astroworld concerts for quite some time now and was even performing when all this went down. His first Astroworld was held in 2018.
Let’s dive deeper into what investigators are saying caused all these people to die that night: a crowd surge. Now I’m not familiar with the term but if you do some quick research, the definition of a crowd surge is, “a quick or sudden movement of a large number of people.” Based on this definition, are investors saying that this resembled a stampede? That people were having so much fun they didn’t notice human beings under them? Not much has been said other than “crowd surge” was the ultimate cause of death.I don’t fully believe that to be the case though.
Stepping away from all the legal statements, as a fan of Scott myself, I feel many emotions—confusion, disappointment, and much more. I'm disappointed at how little effort was made into making the space safe. If proper measures were taken maybe this would have been avoided—including proper measures such as making sure the stage was stable, making sure the lights weren’t too bright for people with epilepsy, and maybe even having some water provided since I’m sure the place was crowded, sweaty, and probably didn’t smell the best.
Scott now has over 100 lawsuits filed against him and that’s pretty reasonable, if you ask me. He’s apologized, but that just won’t be enough. A simple apology and a few measly tears won’t bring these victims back. It never has and it never will. However we can make sure these victims and their families have the support and love they deserve while going through this tragedy. Here’s a link to six Go Fund Me pages all relating to the tragedy at Astroworld. Even if you just donate $1, your charity and generosity will be much appreciated. If you can’t, share it with your friends, family, co-workers.
https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/astroworld-festival-fundraisers
Serenity Bussey is a 7th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge International School.