HOUSTON – Today marks one week since the tragedy at rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival.
The death toll stands at nine. More than two dozen were rushed to the hospital that night and some remain in critical condition. In all, more than 50,000 people were at NRG Park for day one of what was supposed to be a three-day event.
KPRC 2′s Zach Lashway was one of the first reporters on scene Saturday. He spoke with several concertgoers Saturday. He has followed up with them a week later to see how they’ve been doing since.
While some said they are doing okay, others are reaching out for help to process the reality of what happened that night. David Simmons shot cell phone video the moment Travis Scott made his grand entrance. At that same time, some concertgoers were taking their last breaths.
Alfredo Escobedo, an Astroworld concertgoer, was feet away from the main stage. On cell phone video he said, “We’re in the front row, this is crazy.”
Hours after the concert was canceled, Lashway spoke to Escobedo outside NRG Park as he was making his way to lost and found.
“Honestly, it was like a movie,” Escobedo said. “Everyone was going crazy, people were falling, passing out, had to carry 10 people just to get air. It was crazy.”
One week later, the severity of that night is sinking in for Escobedo.
“Now that days have gone by, I have seen videos and realizing five feet behind me, people were passed out dead, and I thought people were just crowd surfing and I was throwing them over, and realizing that it could have been a dead body, we had no clue, people were knocked out getting thrown over,” he said. “I think mentally just trying to focus, I feel like I am not there. I tried going back to work, I find myself just thinking about it constantly, It just lingers in your mind, ‘Was that person ok?’ and did I try my best to get them away.”
Escobedo said he would not go to Astroworld Festival again.
“Probably not, nope. The first hour was fun, once you were in the crowd you couldn’t get out. I wanted to get out even before he came out, because it was already crazy,” he explained.
Simmons told Lashway on Saturday, “It’s unpredictable, it’s overwhelming, it’s exhilarating, it’s a thrill. It’s everything in one. I knew people were passing out. It’s something that typically happens at shows, but people seem to get up at a certain point, but there was a point people weren’t getting up.”
Simmons spoke with Lashway via Zoom about that night and if he’s experiencing any trauma.
“To be honest, I am personally not. I am just not. I think there is somethings follow, come back, as far as how it went, but I am not necessarily feeling any type of PTSD or anything like that to be honest… I am going to Rolling Loud next month… Let the facts come out, let’s see what the facts are and that’s what we can go off. That’s kind of how I am feeling about everything.”
The main stage still stands one week later. The venue remains closed to the public, guarded by security and fencing.