Editor’s note: With the deaths of 22-year-old Bharti Shahani on Nov. 11, and 9-year-old Ezra Blount on Nov. 14, the death toll from the Nov. 5 Astroworld Festival tragedy in Houston now stands at 10. Richland Chronicle staff writer Lizbeth Nava was there as the tragedy unfolded:
Staff Writer Lizbeth Nava
On Nov. 5 at 10 a.m., my boyfriend and I got in the car and drove to Houston, excited to attend our second Astroworld. We expected to see 21 artists, not counting surprise guests, in the span of two days.
Two unidentified people mourn a victim they knew from the incident at the Houston Astroworld concert at a makeshift memorial on Sunday, Nov. 7. Photo: The Associated Press
Arriving at the festival was probably the easiest thing we had done all day. Houston’s public transportation service, Metro, securely dropped us at the stadium where the festival was held. The grounds were filled with cops on foot and on horseback, which made us feel, unlike other years, that they had the crowd under control.
To get into the festival, we did have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result from the last 48 hours. There was onsite rapid testing, but also private security selling the “health check” wristbands so people could avoid the onsite testing.
The moment they began to allow us into the festival, I got a feeling something wasn’t right. There was no ticket to scan at the gate or anything keeping track of the festival attendee count. In order to gain entrance into the festi- val, we walked in with our wristbands high in the air so security could see them. Bag check wasn’t any better; they were set in a gray container for us to pick up on the other side of the metal detectors. They were not opened or checked with a metal detector.
As soon as we were on festival grounds and came across the crowds, I felt a wave of fear come over me. It was only 4:30 p.m. and people had already begun camping out at the “chills” stage area where Travis Scott was scheduled to perform at 8:45 p.m.
During the first couple of acts we watched the performances from the back. Even though we were not in between crowds, the Texas sun had us sweating and in need for a drink. The festival announced there would be free water stations available.
According to the Houston Chronicle, there were two water refill stations. I personally only came across one, and the line for it was an hour or more long. We opted out of waiting in line and decided to buy water bottles instead to avoid missing any of the acts. Water bottles were priced at $5 each and by the end of the night we had spent $30 on water.
A rapper who goes by the name Lil Baby ended his set at 7 p.m. and then SZA was set to perform at 7:30 p.m. Those 30 minutes in between were awful. Everyone began leaving the “thrills” stage to head over to the “chills” stage where Scott would begin his set at 8:45 p.m. There was pushing and people being violent, trying to rush over to camp nearly two hours before Travis came on. I went through that for a little under 30 minutes while trying to get to a safe place and out of the crowd area.
For Travis’ set, I avoided the crowd entirely. We watched from the back where we had enough space to move around and watch through the screens. We were having a great time. I never imagined a tragedy was happen- ing right in front of me.
I spoke to Rodolfo Moreno, a festivalgoer who was involved in the crowd surge. He decided to head to the stage at 7 p.m. and wait for Scott, excited to see him for the first time. He described those two hours as “pure hell.”
“The pushing only kept getting worse and more intense as the timer on stage kept count- ing down. Objects were being thrown around the place the whole time, with most of them striking people on the head,” Rodolfo said about the two hours he waited for the grand final performance.
The shoving didn’t end there. When 9 p.m. came, Travis hit the stage, and Rodolfo described the shoving as “aggressive” and
“nonstop.” Once you’re in the crowd it’s incredibly hard to get out. Rodolfo went four hours without water; for two hours prior to the show and for two hours during the show. He mentioned that by the second song, people were already trying to leave but all the pushing caused a “mess” where people kept falling and screaming for help. It was not easy to pick the fallen ones up since there was no space to move around in. “The only way you moved was by how the wave of the crowd moved you.”
Unfortunately, Rodolfo witnessed people being carried out after they passed out and was in an area where help was needed to provide CPR on a girl. Due to the crowd movement, he never got to see if the girl got the help she needed. Rodolfo said hearing people yell for help and seeing people passing out “created a sense of panic” and the whole situation was a “crazy scene” he would never have imagined to be a part of.
