Houston leaders seek clues for concert mishap that killed 8

Authorities said they would watch video, interview witnesses and review concert protocols to determine how eight people died at a Houston music festival when fans suddenly surged toward the stage to watch rapper Travis Scott.

City officials said on Nov. 6 they were in the early stages of investigating the pandemonium that unfolded Friday evening at Astroworld, a sold-out, two-day event in NRG Park with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance. One attendee said that as a timer clicked down to the start of Scott's performance, the crowd pushed forward.

"As soon as he jumped out on the stage, it was like an energy took over and everything went haywire," concertgoer Niaara Goods said. "All of a sudden, your ribs are being crushed. You have someone's arm in your neck. You're trying to breathe, but you can't."

Goods said she was so desperate to get out that she bit a man on the shoulder to get him to move.

The dead ranged in age from 14 to 27, and 13 people were still hospitalized on Nov. 6, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

He called the disaster "a tragedy on many different levels" and said it was too early to draw conclusions about what went wrong. Dozens were injured.

"It may well be that this tragedy is the result of unpredictable events, of circumstances coming together that couldn't possibly have been avoided," said Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris County's top elected official. "But until we determine that, I will ask the tough questions."
Experts who have studied deaths caused by crowd surges say they are often a result of density, too many people

packed into a small space. The crowd is often running either away from a perceived threat or toward something they want, such as a performer, before hitting a barrier.

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