The deadly Astroworld Festival in Texas resulted in the deaths of eight Travis Scott fans and life-changing injuries for dozens more. Those could have been my own children, writes mum of two Jacqui Paterson

Travis Scott attended an afterparty following his gig at Astroworld on Friday

"This was supposed to be a fun day out - a triumphant post-Covid return for live music - but instead will forever be remembered as one of the United States’ deadliest events"

When I woke up on Saturday and read the news that eight people had died at a Travis Scott concert, I literally felt sick.

I was flooded with sadness for the Astroworld victims and their devastated families, who’d waved their excited loved ones off that day and never saw them alive again. I couldn’t stop thinking about how the youngest victim, John Hilgert, was just 14 years old – only one year older than my own daughter.

The wildly anticipated weekend festival – postponed the previous year due to the pandemic – had attracted 50,000 music fans to Scott’s hometown of Houston, Texas. When the amped-up crowd surged towards the stage, those at the front were crushed by a tsunami of people behind them. Eight children and young adults – the oldest was just 27 – were killed while the music continued to play around them.

According to reports, a further 300 concert goers were injured that night, with 17 requiring hospital treatment.

In the days since, a 22-year-old woman, Bharti Shahani, has been declared brain dead from her injuries, and a nine-year-old boy, Ezra Blount - who fell from his father’s shoulders and was trampled by the crowd - has lain in a medically induced coma as doctors battle to heal his broken body.

Travis Scott's performance at Astroworld resulted in 8 dead and hundreds wounded from crushing

Travis Scott's performance at Astroworld resulted in 8 dead and hundreds wounded from crushing(Image: WireImage,)

This was supposed to be a fun day out - a triumphant post-Covid return for live music - but instead will forever be remembered as one of the United States’ deadliest events.

Some of my best memories are from live concerts. I was 16 years old (the same age as Brianna Rodriguez, who was also killed in the crush) when I went to see my first one, sans parents. Big acts didn’t make it to New Zealand that often, so when U2 announced a tour my friends and I snapped up tickets. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the band, but that didn’t matter, we were going to soak in the atmosphere and the buzz of a live performance.

We lined up hours before the start time, dashing inside as soon as the gates opened so we could get spots right by the stage. It was chilled while the support acts played, but as soon as U2 came on the energy changed: the excitement was palpable and suddenly we were swept up in a churning sea of people.

For the next two hours we surrendered ourselves to the swell of the audience, not a spare inch between us and the rest of the crowd. But the mood was one of exhilaration; everyone was singing and bouncing up and down to the music (the only direction you could realistically move in). We were squashed, but not frighteningly so, and the frenetic energy just added to the experience.

Crowds were seen rushing the event before the performances started

Crowds were seen rushing the event before the performances started

It was the first of many festivals and concerts I went to over the years, usually as close to the front as we could squeeze ourselves. We didn’t think about safety or logistics, we just wanted to be in the thick of it all.

I think back to those nights now and try to imagine if it hadn’t ended with us simply making our way home, elated and exhausted, voices husky from cheering and singing at the top of our lungs.

What if it had taken a terrible turn, as the Astroworld attendees have since described? If the crowd had jammed so tightly, I couldn’t turn around or even raise my arms over my head and the surging crowd had torn me away from my friends, and the breath was literally being squeezed out of me? What if my screaming hadn’t been from excitement, but from a primal fear I was dying? My God, the panic those people must have felt.

It leaves me with an awful feeling of dread, not for myself - my mosh pit days are firmly behind me - but for my children. They’re 11 and 13, so I probably have two or three years before my eldest starts begging to go to concerts with her friends. I want her to feel the thrill and incredible bonding experience of a live concert, but the thought also terrifies me.

Investigations will need to be carried out to decide how this tragedy happened. Whether it was a security issue, poor crowd control, an ill-prepared medical response or a crazed audience member injecting people with opiates (one of the more eyebrow-raising explanations that has been floated), is yet to be determined, but what we DO know is that this was almost certainly avoidable.

The entire world was shocked when 97 Liverpool fans were asphyxiated by overcrowding at the Hillsborough football stadium. Two decades later, 21 people were crushed to death in crowds at Germany’s annual electronic dance music celebration, Love Parade. Hard, heart-breaking lessons were learned from these tragedies, and others over the years.

And yet, it has happened again.

There’s no doubt Scott is horrified by what happened (he released a video saying he was working closely with authorities, stating: "I’m honestly just devastated, I could never imagine anything like this, just, happening…"), but it’s impossible to ignore the fact he’s twice faced action for encouraging fans to ‘rage’ during his performances. In 2015 he pleaded guilty to reckless conduct, and two years later was convicted of disorderly conduct.

Grieving families are demanding answers and accountability, and multiple lawsuits are now looming.

Where there are humans there will be human error, but we should be able to drop our children at a concert without worrying they’ll be trampled to death, or so badly crushed their hearts simply give up.

We should feel safe in the knowledge they’re having the time of their lives, and not in danger of losing them.

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'Travis Scott's Astroworld tragedy and horrifying injuries will terrify all parents'