The latest in a growing list of lawsuits against Travis Scott and other organizers of the deadly Astroworld music festival last weekend was filed Tuesday (Nov. 9) by the family of a 9-year-old boy who is in a medically induced coma after he was “trampled nearly to death."
In one of at least 18 cases that have been filed on behalf of victims of Friday night’s crowd surge incident, the family of a child identified as E.B. said the boy was “trampled nearly to death by other concertgoers” when fans pressed toward the stage.
“This young child and his family will face life-altering trauma from this day forward, a reality that nobody expects when they buy concert tickets,” said Benjamin Crump, the family’s attorney, in a statement. “Concerts and music festivals such as this are meant to be a safe place for people of all ages to enjoy music in a controlled environment. None of that was true about the Astroworld Festival.”
In addition to Scott, the lawsuit also named promotors Live Nation and ScoreMore as defendants, as well as many others involved in planning and operating Astroworld.
Friday’s deadly crush occurred during the first night of a two-day festival attended by more than 50,000 people at Houston’s NRG Park stadium complex. Witnesses report thousands of fans pressing toward the stage, causing a panicked stampede and making it difficult for some to breathe.
In total, the incident left eight dead and dozens seriously injured, in what appears to be one of the deadliest crowd disasters at a music event in years.
Most of the lawsuits filed over Astroworld thus far have been handled by Houston-area law firms, but Crump is a nationally-known attorney. He has handled a number of high-profile wrongful death cases, including Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as litigation for victims of the Flint water crisis.
E.B., the child in Tuesday’s lawsuit attended Astroworld with his father, Treston Blount. As the crowd surged toward the stage, the lawsuit said Blount was “kicked, stepped on, and trampled, and nearly crushed to death.”
“As of the date of this filing, plaintiff E.B. remains hospitalized in critical condition, suffering from life-threatening injuries, which are likely to be catastrophic,” Crump wrote in the lawsuit.
Like other cases that have been filed against Scott and Live Nation, the lawsuit filed by the Blount family accuses the Astroworld organizers of negligence, claiming they “egregiously failed in their duty to protect the health, safety, and lives of those in attendance at the concert.”
The claim focuses on poor planning, but also on the decision to allow the show to continue after warning signs from the crown -- and reportedly for more than 40 minutes after Houston officials had deemed the incident a “mass casualty” event.
“Many individuals were seen lifting up the unconscious bodies of friends and strangers and surfed them over the top of the crowd, hoping to send them to safety,” Crump wrote in the lawsuit. “Further, several individuals were shouting for help with CPR and pleading with Defendants to stop the concert.”
Live Nation, Scott and ScoreMore have not responded to requests for comment on the litigation.
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