A lawsuit has been filed following the Astroworld Festival tragedy that left eight people dead and dozens injured in Houston on Friday night.A concertgoer who was injured during the festival is suing rapper and producer Travis Scott, who was the organizer of the Astroworld Festival, as well as entertainment company Live Nation, concert promoter Scoremore and others involved in the event, according to the lawsuit obtained by CNN.
Manuel Souza, who is being represented by the law firm Kherkher Garcia, “suffered serious bodily injuries when the uncontrolled crowd at the concert knocked him to the ground and trampled him,” according to the lawsuit filed in Harris County, Texas.
“Defendants failed to properly plan and conduct the concert in a safe manner,” the lawsuit continued.
Meanwhile, Scott spoke about the incident via Instagram Saturday night:
Scott took the stage for his set shortly after 9 p.m. Officials said they were made aware of crowd surges early in his set, and received the first reports of injuries at approximately 9:30 p.m.It is unclear what Scott saw from the stage and whether he was aware of the crowd conditions at the time, but he continued to perform until approximately 10:10 p.m.
That is about 40 minutes after the first reports of injuries were made to officials and just over 30 minutes after officials declared the concert a “mass casualty event,” according to times given by Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña at a news conference Saturday morning.
The lawsuit alleges, “Scott actively encourages his fans to ‘rage’ at his concerts. His express encouragement of violence has previously resulted in serious violence at numerous past concerts.”It also cites a since-deleted tweet from Scott in response to fan complaints about this concert’s quick sell-out: “WE STILL SNEAKING THE WILD ONES IN. !!!!!”
One fan who was in the crowd said: “I fell backwards and it felt like it was the end for me. To think that’s how I’ll die, I was so scared,” Beltran told CNN. “I did not know what to do. It was all happening so fast, but so slow and I couldn’t react. I just screamed.”