The Astroworld Tragedy Gets Even More Devastating With The Death Of Its Youngest Victim
The devastating fallout continues from the November 5 Astroworld Music Festival where multiple people died and "scores" were injured during Travis Scott's performance. A crowd surge has been blamed for multiple deaths, and CNN reported eight attendees died in the initial incident. Now, the incident has claimed its youngest victim yet.
Approximately 50,000 people were in attendance at the outdoor concert in Houston, Texas. "The crowd for whatever reason began to push and surge towards the front of the stage, which caused the people in the front to be compressed — they were unable to escape that situation," Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña said of the tragedy. The initial eight victims who died ranged in age from 14 to 27, detailed WFAA. A ninth death, that of 22-year-old Texas A&M student Bharti Shahani, was reported several days later (per ABC 13). NPR reported that hundreds of other concert attendees were injured, and a handful remained hospitalized days after the concert. Now, one of those previously hospitalized victims has died.
A father-and-son outing ends in tragedy
The Associated Press reported Ezra Blount died of the injuries he sustained during the Astroworld Music Festival. The family's attorney, Ben Crump, confirmed the 9-year-old boy died at Texas Children's Hospital on November 14. Crump released a statement on the family's behalf, noting, "The Blount family tonight is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son."
The young boy attended the Travis Scott concert with his father, Treston Blount. Ezra was on Treston's shoulders during the performance when the crowd surge began. As Treston wrote on the family's GoFundMe page, he "began to be crushed until I couldn't breathe." Treston passed out, and when he regained consciousness, he could not find Ezra. According to Rolling Stone, Ezra was listed as a John Doe at a nearby hospital when his family found him. Ezra's grandmother, Tericia Blount, explained, "He has injuries to his kidney, to his lung, to his liver. Basically every organ has damage." In addition, Ezra had a cardiac arrest as well as brain swelling, and he was put into an induced coma. "For him to have the injuries he has, I can't help picturing in my mind what he had to go through to get those injuries," she added. Tericia described Ezra as "so wonderful" and "a joy to be around." She added, "He loves music, skateboarding, school, his mom and dad. He loves to perform. He's just an all-around entertainer." Our condolences go out to Ezra's loved ones.