The incident occurred when the crowd surged towards the stage, crushing those at the front who were unable to escape, local fire chief Sam Peña told CNN Saturday morning. That sparked panic, and the situation worsened and overwhelmed security personnel there, he said.
What is Astroworld?
Astroworld is a music festival founded by Scott and held in Houston on the former site of Six Flags Astroworld — this year is its third iteration, as it was canceled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The festival was first launched by Scott in 2018, the same year that the studio album of the same name was released, and the original line-up consisted of performers such as Post Malone, Metro Boomin, Lil Wayne, Scott himself and others.
The 2019 version of the festival came with an expanded line-up, included more genres such as reggaeton and hard rock and was headlined by artists including Gucci Mane, Rosalia, Migos, Pharrell Williams and Megan thee Stallion.
Why Houston?
Houston is Scott’s home city, and is where Six Flags Astroworld — an amusement park — was once located. That closed in 2005 and Scott named his third album after the theme park.
Who was set to perform?
The 2021 line-up included SZA, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Earth, Wind & Fire, 21 Savage, Baby Keem, Chief Keef, Master P, BIA, Don Toliver, Young Thug and more.
In 2019, there were 50,000 attendees at Astroworld and 100,000 tickets went on sale for the 2021 festival — the tickets for this year’s iteration sold out within 30 minutes of launching. In previous years, the festival was a one-day event, and the 2021 version was supposed to take place on November 5 and November 6.
Have there been problems with Astroworld before?
No previous safety issues around the festival have been flagged before.