Astroworld organisers were warned of “overcrowding” at fatal Travis Scott concert

nme.com:

Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival were allegedly warned about potential issues with overcrowding in 2021, before the event took the lives of 10 concertgoers.According to new court documents, the head of safety for the festival raised concerns about the number of people that could be near the stage, 10 days before the event took place.“I feel like there is no way we are going to fit 50k in front of that stage,” Seyth Boardman wrote to the operations director for the Texas festival (via BBC News).This was just one of many examples given in new court filings.The amendments were submitted by lawyers for the families of those killed at the event and others affected by the tragedy, as part of the mass civil litigation filed against the organisers.

The documents contained alleged conversations and supporting information that organisers of the festival foresaw issues with overcrowding before the festival took place.As highlighted by the BBC, the new additions suggest that organisers for Astroworld mistakenly thought that the fire safety code allowed for five square feet per person – two feet less than the actual number.This, it states, contributed to a crowd of roughly 50,000 people cramming into a space meant for only 34,500.

The defence team has not yet filed their expert reports in court.In the new documents, it is also shown that organisers had concerns about gatecrashers without tickets, with one writing that the issue would mean that “we are going to be absolutely screwed when the sun goes down”.It is also alleged that this issue was compounded by security lapses and a failure to monitor the crowd for signs of a potential crowd crush.