A night of excitement was anticipated in Houston at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, however, the event invoked a tragedy that will remain in our minds long after. The famous rapper’s highly awaited show was foreseen to be monumental, and fatefully, it was; Nov. 5th, 2021 ended in at least 10 known deaths and hundreds of people in the hospital. 

50,000 people attended the concert on Friday night, unaware of what would happen when they all rushed towards the barrier at once, creating a wave that knocked bodies to the ground. That was just the beginning, as all throughout the concert, the pushing and shoving had people suffocating under the feet of other people, unable to move. As this horror unfolded, unconscious bodies were crowd surfed out towards ambulances that had dancing fans on top. People chanted to stop the concert, but Scott paid no attention. He continued to perform as fans accepted their deaths in the crowd.

There were in total 10 lives lost due to Astroworld, maybe more. The youngest was a 9-year-old boy named Ezra Blout. He had been in a coma since the concert and died on Nov. 14th after receiving swelling in his brain and trauma in many organs. Following in age, a 14-year-old boy named John Hilgert was killed, a freshman in high school who was known for playing football and baseball. Another high schooler, Brianna Rodriguez, was lost. She was 16 and according to her fellow band members, “could always make anyone smile.”

 Franco Patino, age 21, died at the concert as well. He was a senior at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He planned a career in biomedical engineering. Rudy Peña, age 23, was lost. He was described by his sister as “the sweetest person”. 

Another victim was a man named Danish Baig, age 27, who died trying to save his fiancee’s life from the stampede of people. Jacob Jurinek was 20 years old, a junior at Southern Illinois University. His life was fatefully lost as well, and was described as having a “contagious enthusiasm, boundless energy and unwavering positive attitude.”

Axel Acosta, age 21, was a junior at Western Washington University and had traveled to the concert from Washington, but he never made it back. Another young woman, Madison Dubiski, was lost. She was 23 and was attending the concert with her brother. When they got separated, he never saw her again. Lastly was 22-year-old named Bharti Shahani, a computer science student at Texas A&M University. Shahani will be greatly missed by her family, along with all the other grieving friends and family who devastatingly lost someone at the Astroworld festival.