The stories coming out of the Astroworld Festival tragedy keep getting worse.
A nine-year-old boy is in a medically-induced coma after being injured in the Astroworld Festival crowd surge that killed at least eight people over the weekend.
via People:
Ezra Blount is fighting for his life at Texas Children’s Hospital, ABC 13 Houston reported Monday.
Ezra was sitting on his father Treston’s shoulders during the concert when the fatal crowd surge began, according to ABC 13 Houston and the Houston Chronicle.
Treston eventually passed out from the pressure of the crowd, and Ezra fell from his shoulders and was trampled, the outlet reports. When his dad finally came to, his son had already been taken to the hospital, Ezra’s grandfather, Bernon Blount, told ABC 13 Houston.
“He was listed as a John Doe because nobody knew his name and the father was still at the venue in the medical facilities,” Bernon said.
Ezra’s family told ABC 13 that the young boy has brain swelling and that all of his organs are damaged. The outlet reports that Ezra’s brain swelling got”progressively worse” on Monday.
His family told the Chronicle that doctors believe the little boy went into cardiac arrest.
Bernon told the outlet that Treston had taken his son to the concert as a bonding experience and had traveled to the festival from Tyler to spend time with the 9-year-old, who lives in Dallas with his mother.
Several young people are among the victims of the terrifying ordeal; it was reported over the weekend that an unidentified 10-year-old was also hospitalized. PEOPLE is working to determine if Ezra is the unidentified 10-year-old from those reports.
Jacob Jurinek, 21; John Hilgert, 14; Brianna Rodriguez, 16; Franco Patiño, 21; Axel Acosta, 21; Rudy Peña, 23; Madison Dubiski, 23; and Danish Baig, 27, have been identified as those who died Friday when fans in the crowd of about 50,000 began to rush the stage where Travis Scott was performing.In a statement shared on Saturday, Scott said he was “absolutely devastated” by the events that took place, and announced on Monday that he will pay for the funeral costs of those who died, Variety reported.
Families of the dead and injured are desperate for answers as to how such chaos unfolded — including Ezra’s grandfather.
“I guess my biggest thing is, how could this happen in the city of Houston? You know, when we go to concerts and different events, we expect safety and security. And all the videos I’ve seen, I didn’t see any security. I saw very little security,” he told ABC 13 Houston, later adding that police or “someone should have stopped it.”
“I just think there should be some accountability, cause for my grandson to end up the way he did, something terrible happened. He’s a small, innocent child, he didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve it at all,” Ezra’s grandfather said.
“He’s just coming into town to see one of his favorite artists, and to be trampled like that, and really left in the hospital with no one knowing where he was, that’s heartbreaking,” he continued. “As the citizens of Houston, we don’t deserve it, and my grandson certainly didn’t deserve it.”
Houston authorities are looking for similar answers. Police Chief Troy Finner, who said he met with Scott before the concert on Friday, said Monday that their investigation is ongoing.
We pray Ezra makes a full recovery. All of this could’ve been prevented.
