More harrowing details about what transpired at Astroworld are coming out as the lawsuits keep piling up.
via People:
The CEO of the third-party medical company that ran operations at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival says his team faced what he called an “impossible feat” when treating victims at the deadly concert.
Hoping to “set the record straight,” ParaDocs CEO Alex Pollak spoke to reporters on Monday about the Nov. 5 tragedy — which left 10 people dead — revealing that staffers responded to 11 cardiac arrests at once, CNNreported.
ParaDocs did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“This is something I’ll have nightmares about for the rest of my life,” Pollak said. “The team is extremely broken up about it. Seeing so many young people getting CPR at one time, it’s just something no one should have to go through. Even though we’re medical professionals, we should be used to it. You can’t get used to something like that.”
Though first responders are advised against entering dangerous situations such as a crowd surge — due to the risk of personal harm — Pollak said the medics made multiple rounds into the audience to help those in need as the situation escalated.
Detailing the intense situation, Pollak also shared that as medics performed CPR on the back of carts, other attendees began jumping on top of the carts, pulling them off people.
“They thought it was a joke,” Pollak said, CNN reported. “We never expected [in] our lives to encounter a situation like that. It was absolutely horrific.
Ten people died and more than 300 people were injured as a result of the fatal crowd surge at Astroworld Festival. At least 36 lawsuits have been filed against Scott and concert organizers over the incident, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The victims have been identified as Ezra Blount, 9; Jacob Jurinek, 21; John Hilgert, 14; Brianna Rodriguez, 16; Franco Patiño, 21; Axel Acosta, 21; Rudy Peña, 23; Madison Dubiski, 23; Danish Baig, 27; and Bharti Shahani, 22.
Ben Crump, attorney for the Blount family, previously said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE: “The Blount family tonight is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son. This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, what should have been a joyful celebration. Ezra’s death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family. But tonight we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer.”
Ezra’s family has filed a lawsuit against Scott and others, alleging their “grossly negligent conduct” contributed to the child’s life-threatening injuries. The complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE, said that Ezra was “kicked, stepped on, and trampled, and nearly crushed to death” at the festival.
One week after the fatal Houston concert, Scott’s attorney Edwin F. McPherson said during an appearance on Good Morning America that there “obviously was a systemic breakdown that we need to get to the bottom of before we start pointing fingers at anyone.”
McPherson claimed the mass casualty declaration made by authorities that night “absolutely did not” make it to the 30-year-old rapper or his team as the artist kept performing the show. “In fact,” he claimed, “we’ve seen footage of police half an hour later just walking about and not looking like it was a mass casualty event.”
Following the event, Scott posted a series of videos to his Instagram Story on Saturday, saying he was “horrified” by what happened at his show and pledging to help the victims’ families. “I’m honestly just devastated and I could never imagine anything like this happening,” Scott said.
Let us remind you — the rumors that the cardiac arrests were triggered by laced drugs in the crowd are false.
