HOUSTON – Several lawsuits have been filed after eight people and several others were injured during the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park.
Attorneys of those injured in the tragedy went to NRG Park Tuesday to inspect the scene. Attorneys said they expect to be at the site for three day collecting evidence.
Texas attorney Thomas J. Henry filed one of the first lawsuits against rappers Travis Scott and Aubrey Drake Graham, Live Nation and NRG Stadium in connection with a tragic event at the Astroworld Music Festival.
Henry filed on behalf of 23-year-old Kristian Paredes from Austin who accused the rappers, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation of negligence, according to the Daily Mail.
Henry’s firm, Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys, confirmed the lawsuit in a Facebook posting here.
“Live musical performances are meant to inspire catharsis, not tragedy,” Henry told The Daily Mail. “Many of these concert-goers were looking forward to this event for months, and they deserved a safe environment in which to have fun and enjoy the evening. Instead, their night was one of fear, injury, and death.”
Paredes is reportedly now seeking over $1 million for his bodily injuries, some of which he claims are permanent, as well as medical expenses.
KPRC 2 is working to obtain a copy of the lawsuit to confirm its reported details.
Attorney Kurt Arnold of Arnold and Itkin LLP filed the second lawsuit on behalf of Patrick Stennis, of Harris County.
According to the lawsuit, Stennis, who attended the Astroworld Music Festival on Nov. 5, was “trampled, crushed and lost consciousness during the incident.” The lawsuit accuses Live Nation Worldwide Inc., Travis Scott and a host of other defendants of failing to “properly plan, design, manage, operate, staff and supervise the event.”
“There were mounting indications throughout the day that something terrible was going to happen. There was prior notice that something like the tragic stampede at the Astroworld Music Festival was inevitable. Just look at the trouble they had earlier in the day with the security gates being breached,” Kurt said.
This lawsuit, according to records, does not seek a specified number of damages.
The lawsuits come less than 48 hours after the crowd at the festival suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by Scott.
Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump is also representing victims in the aftermath of the Travis Scott Astroworld concert, including one 21-year-old man, who Crump said described a scene of “chaos and desperation in which he and other concert goers in the VIP section worked to lift people screaming for help from the floor.”
Crump, who filed the suit on behalf of Noah Gutierrez Sunday, issued a statement saying, ”We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced -- the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying unsuccessfully to save them.”
Houston-based law firm Roberts Markland LLP has filed civil lawsuits on behalf of 27 festival victims — all of which are seeking at least $1,000,000 in damages in each suit due to the “sustained serious and permanent injuries” they received during Friday’s fatal stampede, the law firm says.
“As a parent of a teenager, my heart is broken for the families of those who died at the festival,” said Attorney Sean Roberts.
Astroworld was a sold-out, two-day event in NRG Park with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance.
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