Astroworld organizers had extensive medical, security plans, but did they follow them?
HOUSTON — A half-hour after rapper Travis Scott took the stage at 9 p.m. Friday, someone in the media pit called out for medical aid. In that instant, the Astroworld concert turned dangerous and surreal for Max Morbidelli, a 24-year-old paramedic who was in the crowd with his sister.
“I jumped the barricade and found a girl who was passed out, supine and very clearly cyanotic, or blue,” said Morbidelli, a graduate student at Auburn University in Alabama. The woman wasn’t breathing, didn’t have a pulse and no medical staff were visible, Morbidelli said. He started CPR.
“The scene was unimaginably chaotic,” the former firefighter said. “The music was so loud. There were lights flashing. There’s people tapping me on the shoulder asking me questions. It was overwhelming.”
Morbidelli was caught up in unfolding chaos that had actually begun hours earlier when fans breached a barricade at the festival. Police intervened to bring things under control, but when crowds surged again that night, injuries mounted so quickly that medical staff were overwhelmed. Some concertgoers passed out. Others were trampled. A few climbed fences and begged Scott to stop the show, to no avail. By the time he left the stage after 10 p.m., bodies were being carried out on stretchers.
Eight people died, ranging in age from 14 to 27. Two dozen were hospitalized and scores more were injured. On Monday, the Houston medical examiner released the victims’ names, but their autopsies were still pending as local police and fire officials investigate what caused the night to turn deadly. At least one security guard was treated with naloxone for opioid overdose after reporting being pricked in the neck with a needle, Police Chief Troy Finner said, leading police to launch both homicide and narcotics investigations.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Scott and Astroworld organizers by those injured in the melee as questions have arisen over why the crowd surged and why it wasn’t contained during a day of unruliness. Some authorities also questioned why Scott continued to perform even as people fell unconscious and at least one ambulance appeared in front of the stage.
Before the concert, organizers had presented Houston police and first responders with two lengthy plans: A medical plan by New York City-based Paradocs Worldwide Inc., and a security plan by Austin-based promoter Scoremore Shows addressing potential emergencies.
“Based on the site’s layout and numerous past experiences, the potential for multiple alcohol/drug related incidents, possible evacuation needs, and the ever-present threat of a mass casualty situation are identified as key concerns,” the security plan said.
“The key in properly dealing with this type of scenario is proper management of the crowd from the minute the doors open,” the report stated. “Crowd management techniques will be employed to identify potentially dangerous crowd behavior in its early stages in an effort to prevent a civil disturbance/riot.”
Concert safety consultant Paul Wertheimer has been studying such tragedies since 1979, when he was an onsite investigator the night 11 people were trampled to death at a Cincinnati concert by the Who.