At a Houston music festival on Friday night, eight people were killed and several injured when a crowd surged toward a stage, leading to audience members being squeezed with nowhere to escape. Around 50,000 people were at the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park in Houston, Texas. Officials say that the incident happened just after 9 p.m. It was stated by Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña that people began to fall out and become unconscious due to the compression from the back of the crowd moving toward the front of the audience. A video that was taken from the concert showed current performer Travis Scott stop and look in confusion as an ambulance with flashing lights made its way into the heavily packed crowd.   

   Over 300 people were treated at a hospital that was set up just by the festival. Several patients even went into cardiac arrest as they were being transported. Out of twenty-three people who were taken to hospitals, eight of them died. Although the exact cause of death is not clear, more details will likely arise after the medical examination. People who attended the concert continued to post about the chaos that had taken place on social media. As the situation worsened, medical personnel were so overwhelmed with the number of injuries that some audience members attempted to perform CPR.

   Unfortunately, not all details of the situation have been obtained. However, it was stated by Peña that there will be further investigation taking place in the near future. As of now, Houston’s emergency management office has set up a hotline for people who have not been able to get in contact with those known to have attended the event.