After the concert tragedy in Houston with eight dead on Friday evening (local time), things will also get serious for the festival organizer and US rapper Travis Scott (29) and his colleague Drake (35), who were on stage at the time of the accident: You were charged with “inciting chaos” by a seriously injured concert-goer.
Already at the weekend it became known that the mass panic at the final gig of the evening was probably triggered by thousands of fans who stormed towards the stage and thus squeezed people in the front rows. A deadly trap for eight people between the ages of 14 and 27.
Another terrible suspicion: Apparently the security forces did not hear the cries for help from several concert-goers – or even ignored them! A video that has now surfaced on social media illustrates the desperate plight of the trapped people.
In memory of the victims of the disaster, people have put down flowers, candles and postersPhoto: Alex Bierens de Haan / AFP
The video, which was uploaded to TikTok, shows a young woman climbing onto a camera platform. There she calls out: “Somebody died” and gesticulates wildly in the direction of the crowd. Another concert-goer also climbs up the ladder on the podium, shouts several times: “Cancel the show!” But the cameraman, still absorbed in his work, only tries to scare the two off his podium.
Then the first bars of the track “Too Much Power” sound – further calls for help are initially lost in the noise of the concert. The video confirms the reports of several eyewitnesses who made serious allegations in the US media on Saturday and Sunday.
Two visitors who were standing in front of a cordon described the dramatic moments in an interview with Fox News: “For some reason they didn’t help us at all, were uncooperative and didn’t want to pull anyone out. People around us were screaming for help, but they just didn’t do anything. People passed out everywhere, and dead people were lying in front of us. ”
Another concert goer, Gavyn Flores, said: “People tried to get into the few free spaces but they couldn’t. You just didn’t get out of the crowd. They called ‘break the show’, people had to be revived. It was absurd. “
Travis Scott, who launched the festival in 2018, commented on the accident on Saturday morning (local time) on Twitter. “I’m completely devastated by what happened last night.” He will pray for those affected and their families. The Houston police have their full support to solve the “tragic loss of life”.