Houston Chief says he met Travis Scott before the concert | National News

Houston (AP) — Houston police chief worries Travis Scott about safety before a rapper plays at a sold-out music festival that killed eight people and injured hundreds when Scott went on stage on Monday. Said that he expressed.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finaler did not elaborate on his particular safety concerns expressed at the Astroworld Festival on Friday. The Astroworld Festival was founded by Scott and is an event attended by about 50,000 people. His department has launched a criminal investigation into what went wrong.

“I asked Travis Scott and his team to work with HPD at all weekend events and pay attention to his team’s social media messages at upcoming events,” the department tweeted. Said in a statement. “The meeting was concise and respectful, and I had the opportunity to share public security concerns as a police chief.”

“I was completely overwhelmed by what happened,” said Scott’s representative, who did not respond to an email from the Associated Press on Monday.

Houston police and fire department investigators say they will review videos taken by concert promoter Live Nation and dozens of clips from people on the show that are widely shared on social media. Investigators also planned to talk to Live Nation representatives, Scott, and concert attendees.

Investigators also planned to interview witnesses to investigate the design of safety barriers and the use of crowd management at events.

Live Nation said in a statement Monday that it had provided authorities with all footage from the festival’s surveillance cameras and suspended the removal of equipment at the request of investigators walking on the premises. The promoter said a full refund will be provided to all participants.

“It’s not the crowd’s fault. It was like a massive loss of control because you couldn’t even move,” said 19-year-old festival participant Ben Castro. He returned to the venue on Monday, leaving flowers on a makeshift monument, including notes, T-shirts and candles. He said no one knew he was dead until the next day.

According to Harris County officials, the dead were between the ages of 14 and 27 and came from Texas, Illinois, and Washington. They were included High school student, ambitious border patrol agent, computer science student.

Michele Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Forensic Institute, said coroners have yet to determine the cause of death and could take weeks.

More than 300 people were treated at a field hospital on the premises, and at least 13 remained hospitalized on Sunday.

With more than 12 proceedings filed as of Monday, Live Nation has announced that it will postpone ticket sales for the Billy Joel concert at another venue in Houston. The promoter said he was supporting the authorities “so that the fans and their families in attendance could get the answers they wanted.”

Los Angeles-based Contemporary Services Corp. was responsible for the festival’s security staff, according to Texas county records. “We are a pioneer in cloud management, an expert, and globally recognized as the only company owned by our employees,” the company said online. Company representatives are not responding to email or phone messages asking for comment.

Astroworld organizers have set security and emergency medical care protocols in the festival plan submitted to Harris County. The 56-page operational plan obtained by AP states that “the potential for multiple alcohol / drug-related incidents, possible evacuation needs, and the ever-present threat of high-volume casualties are important concerns. It has been identified. “

The plan directs staff to “use the code’smurf’to notify event management of suspected dead victims.” “Don’t use the terms” dead “or” dead “on the radio,” he said. It is not clear if the protocol is being followed.

No one on the list responsible for managing Astroworld’s security and operations has responded to requests for comment.

Stephen Adelman, Vice President of Industry Group Event Safety Alliance — Formed later The stage collapsed at the 2011 Indiana State Fair Kill 7 people — helped create current industry guidelines.

In addition to investigating safety barriers and whether they correctly guided or contributed to the crushing, authorities said that something other than Scott’s stage stimulated the crowd, Adelman said. Consider whether.

Another question was whether there were enough guards, and Adelman pointed out that there was a national shortage of people who would be willing to accept low-paying part-time security gigs.

“Security obviously couldn’t stop people. Optically, it really looks bad,” he said. “But it’s too early to say what it tells us.”

In a video posted on social media, Scott can be seen stopping the concert at some point and asking someone in the audience for help. “Security, someone can help you really quickly.”

Not only concerts, but also sports and religious events have a long history of similar catastrophes. In 1979, 11 people were killed as thousands of fans tried to enter the Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum. To watch The Who’s concert..other Crowd catastrophe It includes the deaths of 97 people in a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England in 1989, and numerous disasters related to the annual Mecca pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Paul Weber, Associated Press writer in Austin, Texas. Jake Braeberg, Dallas; Randall Chase, Dover, Delaware. Kristin M. Hall in Nashville and Bob Christie in New Bloomfield, PA contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

Houston Chief says he met Travis Scott before the concert | National News

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