Rapper Travis Scott has said he is "devastated" after at least eight people died at one of his concerts, while dozens were hospitalised with serious injuries.
The youngest fatalities were 14 and 16.
Reports suggest the deaths were caused by a crowd surge. However, officials in Houston, Texas have yet to rule out a cause of death and the musician says he will cooperate fully with authorities.
“I just want to send out prayers to the ones that were lost last night,” Mr Scott said in a video posted on his Instagram account.
“We’re actually working right now to identify the families, so we can help assist them through this tough time.
“You know my fans really mean the world to me. I always just want to leave them with a positive experience.”
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 6, 2021
'Pushing back and forth'
One fan told journalists that he felt unsafe almost as soon as the gig began:
“Honestly, I was a little further back by the camera on the left that was live streaming it. And even back there it was rough. The whole thing. Just in general. There were just people pushing back and forth.
“It was like a ripple effect. One person pushed and the whole crowd just went forward.”
Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite was at the concert and said the surge seemed to have “happened all at once.”
“Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode,” Mr Satterwhite said.
“And so we immediately started doing CPR, and moving people right then”.
Lina Hildago, a local judge, has called for an “objective, independent” investigation into the deaths.
“Perhaps the plans were inadequate. Perhaps the plans were good but they weren’t followed,” Judge Hildago told a press conference.
“The families of those who died, everybody affected, deserves answers.
“When we read these ages – 14, 16, 21, 21, 23, 23, 27 – it just breaks your heart and I know that the images we’ve seen are hard to stomach and I imagine more will surface that are hard to stomach.”
Main image: Travis Scott appears at a film premiere in Los Angeles in 2019. Picture by: Image Press Agency/Splash News / SplashNews.com
