The organizers of the Astroworld music festival where 10 concertgoers died foresaw crowding issues at the event, according to new court documents.
via: HotNewHipHop
The Astroworld Festival tragedy of 2021 is one of the most infamous hip-hop history moments of the decade so far, and for good reason. Ten lives were lost, and hundreds more injured, and scrutiny for the event’s organization, planning, and execution followed immediately. While Travis Scott himself seems mostly cleared of all wrongdoing, there is still a lot of conversation around his personal responsibility and accountability. But even more important in the civil litigation against the rapper and Live Nation, the concert series organizers, are new reports from AllHipHop and other sources about what could’ve been prevented.
Furthermore, these new revelations indicate that Astroworld Festival’s Safery and Risk Director for 2021, Seyth Boardman, warned organizers about overcrowding before this aspect resulted in the tragedy, according to court documents reportedly obtained by AHH. Specifically, he made these claims days before they planned accommodated 50,000 festival patrons, a number that reportedly rose by 5,000 individuals on the day of Travis Scott’s concert series. In addition, these new filings reveal that organizers thought they had to account for five square feet per person due to the fire safety code. In fact, they reportedly had to hold the standard at seven square feet.
As such, this new scrutiny centers around the alleged irresponsibility displayed by Live Nation and Travis Scott by underestimating the space necessary to prevent a crowd surge or overcrowding. What’s more is that litigators specifically claim that 50,000 people fit in a space that should’ve accounted for a crowd of 34,500. Additional claims include a lack of action when it comes to folks entering the festival without a ticket and insufficient monitoring for those who needed help in the crowd. This is such a big element that prosecutors identified security breaches as a principal contributor to the disaster.
Meanwhile, there’s still significant legal action from about 4,900 patrons that seek billions of dollars in damages. Drake’s legal team still wants the court to remove him from these lawsuits despite performing that night alongside Scott, since he had no knowledge of security concerns or the festival’s organization. The Houston MC cooperated with police, and the current focus is on the safety guidelines and event planning that caused this tragedy.
