ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Funeral services underway for Astroworld Festival victims as dozens of lawsuits are filed over the tragedy

Share

The funeral for one of the youngest victims of last week's was held Saturday morning in Houston, as families and friends remember loved ones who died a week ago at the high-energy music event that turned into a nightmare.

Brianna Rodriguez, 16, was one of the as a result of a crowd crush at rapper Travis Scott's music festival in Houston on November 5.

Concertgoers were crushed and trampled and struggled to breathe as the packed crowd surged toward an outdoor stage when Scott started performing, and injuries continued as the performance , witnesses and authorities said.

The ages of ranged from 14 to 27.

At a Houston funeral home Saturday, Rodriguez, a junior at Heights High School in Houston, was remembered by relatives and friends in part as someone who had a passion and talent for dancing, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said.

"We don't know what her career, her future, would have been, but her dancing just got everyone's attention," Jackson Lee, who attended the service, told reporters outside afterward. "It was natural, of course, but also you were touched by this warm and loving family."

"You can see the genuine affection and the genuine leadership that Brianna gave," Jackson Lee, whose district includes much of central Houston, said.

have described to be as terrifying as a "death trap," many thinking they would not make it out alive. The attendees began to push toward the stage as Scott came on, they said.

"This was not a concert; this was a fight for survival," attendee Jeffrey Schmidt told CNN.

Authorities have not released the causes of death for the victims and said that could take weeks. In the meantime, the investigation into how the deadly crush unfolded remains underway.

With about 50,000 people attending, the event's safety measures have come under scrutiny. A have been filed against Scott, the festival organizer and others involved by the families of the victims and the survivors.

On Friday, attorney Ben Crump, along with a coalition of Houston lawyers, they represent more than 200 victims who attended the festival and have filed more than 90 lawsuits in Harris County Civil Court against promoter Live Nation and others involved in the fatal event.

"Some of these victims have been catastrophically injured," said Crump, asking for continued prayers for his 9-year-old client, who remains in a coma.

Live Nation November 6 it was "heartbroken" over Astroworld and is cooperating with authorities as they investigate why the event turned deadly. On Monday, the company it was "working on ways to support attendees, the families of victims, and staff" by providing mental health counseling and will help with hospital costs.

Houston officials have pointed to the artist and others involved in the event as responsible for the chaos that unfolded that night.

Scott has said he was not aware of what was happening in the crowd during his set -- disputing city officials' account of his responsibility in the tragic events.

NEW DETAILS EMERGE

Although multiple accounts say the worst of the crowd surge occurred around 9 p.m. CT November 5, red flags were seen much earlier in the day.

Shortly after the 9 a.m. start of the festival, spectators had already breached the main gate, according to the .

At least eight more breaches would be reported throughout the day, with 3,000 to 5,000 concertgoers that were "not scanned" entering the venue by 5:05 p.m., the logs show.

The logs demonstrate that multiple attendees were injured and brought to the hospital in the morning and afternoon. And shortly before 5 p.m., the Houston Police Department reported "dangerous crowd conditions" at one stage.

Eight minutes before Scott took the stage at 9 p.m., more than 260 people had already been treated, according to the logs, which did not specify the type of treatment. And a 9:18 p.m. entry noted a "crush injury."

Less than half an hour into Scott's performance, the log states: "This is when it all got real."

"Multiple people trampled, passed out at front of stage" at 9:33 p.m, police reported. Shortly after, a police operator reported five 911 calls about "unconscious persons in crowd. Report of possible CPR."

A mass casualty incident was reported at 9:52 p.m., the logs show. From 10 p.m. to about 11:40 p.m., 17 people had been sent to hospitals, including at least six people in cardiac arrest.

LAWYER SAYS SCOTT DID NOT KNOW OF MASS CASUALTIES

It is unclear what Scott saw from the stage and whether he was aware of the crowd conditions, but he continued to perform until about 10:10 p.m.

Scott did not know of the mass casualty declaration, or the full scope of what had occurred, until the following morning, his lawyer said Friday.

"That (mass casualty declaration) never got to Travis, that never got to Travis's crew," attorney Ed McPherson ABC's "Good Morning America."

"He's up there trying to perform. He does not have any ability to know what's going on down below."

Scott was "on a riser at one point and he sees one boy down... stops the show, [and] he asked security to get to that person," McPherson told ABC.

"Understand that when he's up on the stage, and he has flash pots going off around him and he has an ear monitor that has music blasting through it and his own voice -- he can't hear anything, he can't see anything," McPherson added.

FUNERAL SERVICES PLANNED FOR VICTIMS

Scott has said he was devastated by the tragedy, adding that for the victims as well as help fund mental health support for those affected.

At least two funerals were held before Saturday, and more are scheduled over the next week, according to family members and notices posted by various funeral homes.

The funeral for Danish Baig, 27, who died trying to save his fiancée, was held November 7 in Colleyville, Texas, his brother, Basil Baig,

Another brother, Mirza Ammar Baig, said that Danish had planned to buy a house for their parents by the end of the month.

"It's unbearable. It's unspeakable," he said of his brother's death. "I'm the older brother, but he was the older brother to me. He led this family in a direction that I couldn't have done in any other way. ... To wake up and not be able to hear his voice, to touch him, to kiss him, to tell him how much we love him, it's not going to happen anymore. And the way he left this world, it's not just."

On Friday, the funeral for Rodolfo Peña, a 23-year-old who studying at Laredo College, was held Friday in Laredo,

"Although Rudy had many positive attributes, the one attribute that stands out above all the rest was his contagious, warming, sincere smile," reads.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.