At least eight people were killed and others injured, Friday evening, due to a state of panic in a crowd at the Astroworld Music Festival in the city of Houston, southern United States.
"We have at least eight confirmed deaths and many more injured," Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said, explaining that the accident occurred after the audience began pushing towards the front of the stage, which led to a state of panic among the audience.
"There was pressure towards the front of the podium, which caused the fans to panic, and some injuries, as people started to fall, lost consciousness, which created more confusion," Peña said.
He also said that officials had taken 17 people to hospitals, 11 of whom were in critical condition.
It was not clear if the eight who died were among the 17 who were taken to hospitals.
Several people received medical attention at the scene in NRG Park, where a field hospital was set up.
"Suddenly we had several people on the ground, with seizures," said Larry Sutterwaite, assistant chief executive of the Houston police.
Then he continued, "We immediately began the pulmonary resuscitation procedures, and we agreed with the organizers to end the ceremony for the sake of public safety."
Houston Police Chief Troy Viner called for calm and urged people to wait and not make conclusions about the incident.
"I think it's very important that we don't start speculating, nobody has all the answers," he said.
He added that there are many rumors surrounding the event that the authorities will look into, and revealed that the police will conduct an investigation to uncover this.
The incident brought to mind a 1979 concert by The Who, where 11 people died and about 20 were injured when thousands of fans tried to reach the stage overlooking the river.
and "Astroworld", a major music festival that was scheduled to take place over two days, Friday and Saturday, and after this incident, the Saturday shows were canceled.
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