Larry Satterwhite (Executive Assistant to the Chief of Houston Police), was standing near the front of the crowd and said that the mass casualty incident seemed "like it only took a few minutes."
Pea stated that there was a "mass casualty event" around 9:38 PM. 23 people were taken to hospitals. 11 of them were in cardiac arrest.
"That created panic and caused injuries. He said that people began to fall out and become unconscious. This created panic."
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pea stated that the crowd began to "compress towards the front of stage" at 9:15 p.m. during Travis Scott's performance at the sold out concert in Houston.
Officials said that at least eight people were killed in the Texas Astroworld music festival on Friday night. Several more were hurt as a result of the crowd's hurried approach to the stage.
"Suddenly, we found several people on the ground suffering from some kind of medical episode or cardiac arrest. He said that we immediately began performing CPR and moved people.
Satterwhite stated that he met with Live Nation, the organizer of the event, and the promoters, and they agreed to end the event early for the safety of the public.
Scott stops performing and an ambulance moves through the crowd. Video taken at the concert. "What the fuck!" He points at the ambulance.
Kylie Jenner was Scott's girlfriend and shared videos from behind the crowd. She also seemed to have captured an ambulance slowly driving through the huge crowd.
Saturday's statement by the rapper stated that he was "absolutely devastated" at the events of the previous night.
Scott stated that Scott offered his prayers for the Astroworld Festival victims and their families. "Houston PD is in my complete support as they continue to investigate the tragic loss.
Officials urged people to not speculate as to what caused the deaths and injuries. Pea stated that the medical examiner is currently investigating the causes of death for the eight victims.
Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge, said that "our hearts are broken." People go to these events hoping to have a good time, unwind and make memories. You won't find out about any fatalities at this event.
Officials stated that 50,000 people were present at the concert when the incident occurred.
Pea stated that even though event promoters had transport and medical units available on-site, they were overwhelmed by the "quickly falling out" crowd. This prompted dozens of fire departments to respond. The field hospital treated more than 300 patients.
Scott's annual music festival Astroworld, where Houston rapper was the headliner, sold out in less than an hour after tickets were first released in May. Variety reported that around 100,000 people were expected at the event. Due to the pandemic, the festival was cancelled last year.
