KEY FACTS
Authorities are still investigating the incident, in which the 50,000-strong audience apparently surged forward toward the stage, crushing many.
Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña told CNN the causes of death are pending.
Over a dozen people remain hospitalized as of Saturday afternoon, five under the age of 18, the mayor said.
Those who died were aged between 14 and 27, while one man has yet to be identified, according to the medical examiner.
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City officials gave the ages of the victims as 14, 16, two 21-year-olds, two 23-year-olds, and one 27-year-old, in addition to the unknown individual.
According to USA Today the youngest victim was 14-year-old John Hilgert, a ninth-grader whose death was announced in a letter from administrators at Memorial High School in Northwest Houston.
Brianna Rodriguez, a 16-year-old junior at Houston’s Heights High School with a passion for dance, was also killed, her family confirmed to People.
Illinois native Franco Patino, 21, was a student at the University of Dayton in Ohio, where he majored in mechanical engineering technology and was active in a number of campus organizations, the school said.
The father of Patino’s friend Jacob Jurinek, a student at Southern Illinois University interested in digital design, told The Daily Beast his son was among the deceased.
Rodolfo Angel Peña, 23, a Texas native described as an aspiring model and psychology student, apparently died of a cardiac arrest, his family told USA Today.
The New York Post reported that 27-year-old Danish Baig was killed trying to save a family member, according to a Facebook post from his brother.
Houston authorities also appealed to the public for help in identifying one of the eight victims, releasing a picture of the young man with dark hair and a goatee.
KEY BACKGROUND
While Houston’s mayor, police and fire officials said they planned to review footage and interview witnesses to determine what happened at the event, they also defended the city’s preparations for the chaotic concert. After a similar surge at the 2019 Astroworld event, three people were hospitalized after being trampled, according to CNN. Police Chief Troy Finner said that they had bolstered security this year, with 528 police officers and 755 private security officers. Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday they were looking into “where missteps may have occurred.” Finner also confirmed reports that an officer was treated with Narcan and revived after being pricked in the neck and falling unconscious — apparently one of “many instances” in which Narcan was administered, according to Peña.
FURTHER READING
“As a memorial outside emerges outside of NRG, questions remain about chaos at Astroworld Festival” (Houston Chronicle)
“Astroworld Festival victims were teens, students and at least one aspiring model” (USA Today)
“These Are the Astroworld Victims Who Died in Concert Crush” (The Daily Beast)
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