HOUSTON — Travis Scott took to his Instagram account to give an update after eight people died at his concert on Friday night.
Scott said he's trying to identify the families of the eight people who died during his performance at the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park.
"I just want to send out prayers to the ones that was lost last night so we can help assist them through this tough time," Scott said on his Instagram story.
During the seven-part Instagram story, Scott is seen rubbing his head and appears to be in distress. He said anyone with information should contact local authorities so investigators can figure out what went wrong.
"My fans really mean the world to me," Scott said. "I always just want to leave them with a positive experience. I could just never understand the severity of the situation."
In the videos, Scott said he's devastated and repeatedly said he couldn't imagine anything like this happening.
What happened
Authorities said a crowd surge caused some to be trampled, but they won't know the victim's cause of death until autopsies are performed.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner released the ages of seven festivalgoers who died as a result of the chaos at the event:
- One is 14 years old
- One is 16 years old
- Two are 21 years old
- Two are 23 years old
- One is 27 years old
- One is an unknown male
Turner also said six of the eight families have been notified. One of the families is from outside of the Houston/Harris County area.
The mayor also said 25 people injured at the festival were transported to area hospitals. Of those, 13 are still hospitalized, including five under the age of 18. Four of the 25 who were hospitalized have been discharged.
No one is reported missing at this time, the mayor said.
Police Chief Troy Finner said the Houston Police Department is doing everything it can to find out what happened.
“We leave no stones unturned. This has not happened to us in Houston since I’ve been a police officer ... and we’re going to get down to the bottom of it,” Finner said at a news conference Saturday.
Some have said drugs played a part in the mayhem at NRG Park. Finner said there was at least one report of someone who said they were injected with something before going unconscious.
"A lot of narratives right now. A lot of them on social media and even last night," Finner said. "I think that all of us need to be respectful of the families and make sure we follow the facts and the evidence. And that’s what we’re trying to do here in the Houston Police Department. I will tell you one of the narratives was that someone was injecting other people with drugs."
Finner said a security guard who was reaching out to restrain a concertgoer reported he felt a prick in his neck.
"We do have a report of a security officer, according to the medical staff, that was out and treated him last night, that he was reaching out to restrain or grab a citizen and he felt a prick in his neck. When he was examined, he went unconscious. They administered NARCAN. He was revived and the medical staff did notice a prick that was similar to a prick that you would get if somebody was trying to inject," Finner said.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she's calling for an independent investigation into the tragedy.
“It may well be that this tragedy is a result of unpredictable events, of circumstances coming together that couldn’t possibly have been avoided," Hidalgo said during a press conference Saturday afternoon outside of the Wyndham Houston Hotel near NRG Park. "But until we determine that I will ask the tough questions.”
Turner added that it remains "a very active" investigation at this time.
“I’m not aware of any incidents of this kind that have taken place at any one of our special events, neither on the county side or the city side. Or pretty much in the last 40 years, where anybody has lost life,” Mayor Turner said. “Now, we have had an event where they may have been a crowd rush or somebody had to be ejected or maybe somebody had been injured but nothing of this magnitude that any of us can recall.”