Here are things to know for Wednesday, Nov. 10:
1. HFD Chief says Astroworld Festival failure falls on everyone involved in the event, including Travis Scott
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Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Ruy Lozano said no HFD personnel was inside NRG Park during the Astroworld Festival.
He said instead, units were outside at the command station.
“It’s really not part of our scope,” Lozano said. “Our scope is to respond to 911 calls and to the citizens of Houston. Those 102 EMS units, they’re running 24 hours a day making close to a thousand calls a day. The reality is, we don’t have the capacity to become a third-party agency inside an assembly.”
Lozano said the department was not providing medical support for the event because concert producers hired a third-party service. He added that leaders with the department were nearby during the festival and in constant communication with the medical service provider on the scene when chaos ensued.
2. 22-year-old Texas A&M student battling for life from Astroworld Festival, attorneys say
A 22-year-old Texas A&M student is currently battling for her life after the Astroworld Tragedy, according to attorneys.
Bharti Shahani is one of several still hospitalized from the Friday events that have resulted in eight deaths so far.
KPRC 2′s Cathy Hernandez spoke to the law firm representing the family and was told Shahani is still alive and is on a ventilator, but that Shahani suffered a severe brain injury and “it’s not looking good.”
According to the law firm, Shahani’s parents are getting second opinions, trying to get answers on how they should proceed, and they’re asking for prayers.
3. ‘I did feel prepared, but I was not prepared for death’: Security guard shares chilling experience while working Astroworld Festival
One security guard shares her chilling account of what happened the night of the deadly Astroworld Festival.
Shamira Williams signed up to be a security guard for the weekend. She is a teacher and was confident she had the skills to help. She said the security company she signed up with gave her adequate preparation to do that job.
She said after what appeared to be a pleasant day of attendees having fun, by nightfall, the problems started to magnify.
“I did feel prepared,” Williams said. “But I was not prepared for death.”
4. 18-year-old Astroworld concertgoer caught on video trying to stop show after getting caught in crowd surge
At the Astroworld Festival last Friday night, a devastating mixture of injury, panic and ultimately death, transpired as concert-goers surged forward toward the stage where Travis Scott was performing.
“I heard people screaming for help, friends screaming, people crying and people crying for their parents”, Ayden Cruz said.
Eighteen-year-old Cruz, a Heights High School varsity basketball player, was at the concert with a group of seven friends who were all trampled on by the crowd.
He said it felt like a river of people picking him off the ground and then crushing him on top of other helpless people.
5. KPRC 2 Investigates: Red flags to look for when hiring attorney after Astroworld tragedy
Dozens of lawsuits are in the works and more are coming up after the Astroworld Festival tragedy. As we learn more about the people who died at the festival, we know many others are recovering from injuries or trauma from the event. KPRC 2 Investigates has what you need to know before hiring an attorney for yourself, or even your teenager who may have been at the festival.
Thousands of people could be eligible to file a lawsuit in the Astroworld tragedy
If you or someone you know was one of the 55-thousand people at the Astroworld Festival last Friday night you might have a real case according to legal experts. Just hours after the tragedy, attorneys started signing on clients. But there are a few things to watch out for before signing on with an attorney.
“I think it’s proper, the lawsuits. There are two components to it. Number one, there are lawsuits being filed properly and early, because I know that the defendants had lawyers, there actually the night of the event,” said Attorney Randy Sorells, Sorells Law Firm, and past President of the State Bar of Texas. “To balance the side, you want to have people representing those injured folks, and those whose families lost loved ones on the one hand, and the insurance companies and the lawyers for the defendants on the other. So it’s a balancing of the two interests.”