By: Emma Magit — Correspondent

Signs of trouble were evident hours before the deadly crowd surge at the Travis Scott Astroworld festival on November 5, 2021, in Houston, Texas. With approximately 50,000 people in attendance, the event was destined to end with misfortune. By the end of the night, there were deaths and hundreds injured. Today, the death toll from the catastrophic concert rises to 10 as a 9-year-old boy crushed during the crowd surge dies after being on life support.

The known victims were all under thirty years of age. More specifically, there were two high school students, an engineering college student, a 27-year-old man trying to save his fiancee who was being trampled, and a young 9-year-old boy who succumbed to his injuries nine days following the concert, just to name a few. As the death toll rises, the investigation on this horrific night continues. 

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced in a news conference that there were many people hospitalized. “At least 25 people were transported to the hospital and of those, 13 remained hospitalized. Five of them are under 18 years old,” he said.

Travis Scott and Drake have been named in a $750 million lawsuit filed on behalf of 125 Astroworld Festival victims. The lawsuit seeks damages for loss of mental and physical health and loss of human life.  It also names a long list of defendants, including Scott, Drake, event organizers Live Nation, Apple, Epic Records, and the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp.

Attorney Tony Buzbee, whose team collected dozens of statements and combed through hours of video, says the concert was not going to end well from the beginning. “This concert was doomed from the beginning. It was doomed before they filed their operations plan,” he said.

Senior and fan of Scott’s Sydney Ronkin says she would not feel safe going to a concert of Scott’s in the future. “I have never heard about this happening at any other concerts to this extent. If I had the opportunity to go to a Travis Scott concert, I would not take it,” she said.

In a statement put out on Instagram, Scott apologized for the tragedy. “I’m honestly just devastated,” Scott said as he repeatedly sighed and rubbed his forehead. “We’re actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time,” said Scott. 

Although the tragedy was not expected, it was not surprising as Scott has a history of inciting violence at his concerts. ​​In April 2017, Scott encouraged a fan at a show in New York City to jump from a balcony into the crowd. A month later, he was arrested after a show in Arkansas with suspicion of inciting a riot.

Senior Emily Maron says that Scott should be held accountable for the actions that took place at his concert. “Although Travis Scott didn’t directly do anything to his fans, he didn’t stop the concert when the chaos started. I think that he should be sued for what happened at the concert,” she said.

The question remains as to who will ultimately be responsible for the deaths that occurred at the Travis Scott concert. The unanswered query is whether the concert organizers, as well as the performer, should be held accountable. 

During an interview with Savannah Gurthrie of the TODAY show, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena says that Scott should have stopped the concert when he realized what was happening. “We all have a responsibility. Everybody at that event has a responsibility. Starting from the artist on down,” he said.