Bharti is the ninth to die from Astroworld. Ezra Blount, a 9-year-old boy, is currently in critical condition after he fell off his father's shoulders during the concert and was trampled on, his family stated.
Officials called it a crowd surge and eight people were killed that night. Many concertgoers described scenes of people being crushed, trampled and the inability of security personnel and medical staff to assist. Video footage from the night shows people shouting at Travis Scott (who produced the festival) to stop the show.
Bharti, her sister Namrata Shahani and Mohit Bellani were among the roughly 50,000 who attended the festival. Namrata stated that it was the first time the sisters had been to a music festival.
He said, "Please, please ensure that she gets justice." "I don’t want my daughter to be like this."
She was the head of the family. She was a calm and kind girl. Sunny Shahani, her father, stated that she had a bright future. He also pleaded for justice at an emotional news conference.
Bharti Shahani (22-year-old) was severely injured at Astroworld Festival. She showed no brain activity soon after arriving at the hospital. Her family confirmed her death Wednesday.
Bharti, a Texas A&M University student, switched her focus from chemical engineering into computer science in her second semester to help her parents with their online business. Bellani, her cousin, said that she was the "super glue" in the family and took care of her siblings as well as helping her father with his job.
Bharti was close to Blue, their 2-year-old husky. He had just recently started playing badminton.
Namrata, her sister, said that she was "just very full of life" and enjoyed even the smallest things. She never let anything stress or break her. She was always well-organized."
Bellani described the events at Astroworld as "catastrophe and pure brutality."
He said, "If the venue, producers, organizers and Live Nation had done what they were supposed to do, if the security guards and medics they hired had been properly vetted and trained, if the event wasn't overhyped and hundreds or thousands of people slipped in, if the barricades hadn't been kept up on all sides, they wouldn't have let us in." They suffocated them. They did the same to Bharti.
Namrata stated that she is still unable to process the events.
She said, "Everyday I wake up and it's like a nightmare. Maybe it was just a dream." "And it will all be over. I'll finally be able to see my sister again, hold her again and hug her again. I'll also be able to tell her how much she means to me.
Just before chaos broke out, the sisters were still holding hands. Namrata claimed that her sister's last words were "Are you okay?" Namrata stated that Bharti was unconscious on a ventilator the next time she saw her sister.
James Lassiter (an attorney representing the family) confirmed that Bharti was the woman featured in the viral video. She was also dropped from a wheelchair as medical staff attempted to take her out of the crowd. He claimed that Scott, Live Nation or any other organizations involved in Astroworld had not reached out to his family.
Scott's team stated that while Scott has been "actively investigating routes of connection" to the victims' families but he "wants remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they would like to be connected."
According to the Shahani family, Bharti's organs would be donated. As of Thursday, Bharti was still on the ventilator in order to facilitate the donation process.
