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'Sadness looming over city of Houston': HFD Chief speaks out as Astroworld fest death toll climbs to 10

Chief Sam Peña says HFD has handed over tons of documents, including incident logs, to help investigators working on criminal investigations.

HOUSTON — It has been 10 days since the deadly Astroworld Festival and the death toll is now in the double digits.

The latest victim, Ezra Blount, is also the youngest. He was 9.

RELATED: Ezra Blount, 9-year-old severely injured at Astroworld Festival, has died, family attorney says

"There is a sadness that's looming over the city of Houston," Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña said. "This is a tragedy of enormous proportions."

Now, 10 families are demanding answers on what led to their loved ones deaths.

RELATED: Astroworld Festival tragedy: What we know about the 10 victims

"It's obvious the plan did not go as it was drafted and as they had planned," Peña said.

So far, HFD incident logs obtained by KHOU 11 News provided the clearest picture yet of how things unfolded. They depict a chaotic scene 12 hours before Travis Scott even took the stage.

At one point, HFD logged an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people illegally got into the festival. It was estimated that more than 55,000 were in attendance by the end of the night. Far fewer tickets were actually scanned at the gates.

"We hear that there were 34,000 tickets scanned," Peña said. "We won't know the true amount until we get a ticket manifest."

HFD officials documented a wave of medical emergencies shortly after Scott took the stage. Private medics hired by the promoter simply weren't enough once the crowd surge began, according to Peña.

RELATED: 'When it all got real' | HFD logs paint timeline of Astroworld Festival chaos

"They were just overwhelmed with the number of patients and severity of those patients," Peña said.

Scott stopped the show briefly a couple of times but kept performing.

"If he's fully aware, that artist, any artist has the capacity to take a tactical pause," Peña said. "They can stop the show, turn on the lights, and tell everybody to take five steps back until we get control of this issue."

We now know that never happened. What Scott knew and when remain critical pieces of the puzzle. Peña urged patience as the investigation moves forward.

Watch more stories on the Astroworld Festival tragedy on the KHOU 11 YouTube channel:

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