THE SQUIZ
Eight people died and 300 were injured when a 50,000-strong crowd surged towards the stage at the start of a Travis Scott performance in Houston, Texas. Authorities are investigating why the crowd was pushed forward at the Astroworld Festival on Friday night local time. Footage posted to social media shows fans chanting “stop the show” while Scott is performing, and at one point, he asked security to help someone who had collapsed. However, his performance went on for some time, leading concert-goers to question if he knew the severity of the situation as it unfolded.

WHAT HAPPENED?
A press photographer said the crowd was aggressive all day, and a music fan said that as a timer clicked down to the start of Scott’s performance, the crowd pushed forward. Music editors said Scott’s performances are known for being high-energy and that he “really tries to rile up the crowd”. Crowd-crushes are rare with lessons learnt from the tragedies of the last 4 decades. In this case, authorities are also investigating reports that someone in the audience “was injecting other people with drugs.” That included a security officer “who felt a prick in his neck”, fell unconscious, and was revived with a dose of the opioid antidote naloxone. Authorities are looking into that, along with the crowd management measures used close to the stage. Reports say the venue can hold 200,000 people, but attendance was restricted to 50,000.

UMM CAN I ASK WHO TRAVIS SCOTT IS?
Sure, there’s no judgement here. Well, maybe a little bit… He’s a 30-year-old US rapper, singer and music producer from Houston who has been nominated for a Grammy award 8 times. His professional calling card is his 2018 album Astroworld, which the festival is named after. Pharrell, Megan Thee Stallion, Post Malone and Lil Wayne have all performed there in previous years. Scott’s personal situation: he’s Kardashian krewmember Kylie Jenner’s better half, father of Stormi, and the couple have another on the way. He tweeted that he is “absolutely devastated by what took place”.