House Oversight Committee will launch an investigation into Astroworld tragedy
The November festival, that featured Travis Scott as headliner, left 10 people dead and even more injured
Nearly two months after Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival, the House Oversight Committee announced yesterday that it will be launching an investigation into the tragedy that left 10 dead and dozens injured.
In a letter to the festival’s organizer Live Nation, the committee wrote, “Recent reports raise serious concerns about whether your company took adequate steps to ensure the safety of the 50,000 concertgoers who attended Astroworld Festival.”
“The tragedy at Astroworld Festival follows a long line of other tragic events and safety violations involving Live Nation,” the letter continued. “For example, Live Nation has been fined or sued numerous times over safety issues at previous events, including other incidents involving surging fans or stampedes.”
For its part, Live Nation says that it is “assisting local authorities in their investigation and that it will of course share information with the Committee as well.” The company also added that “safety is core to live events and Live Nation engages in detailed security planning in coordination with local stakeholders including law enforcement, fire and EMT professionals.”
“We are heartbroken by the events at Astroworld and our deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of the victims,” the statement ended.
In his first in-depth interview after the Astroworld tragedy, Travis Scott told Charlamagne Tha God that as a performer and headlining act at any festival, he leaves most of the safety measures to “the professionals.”
“We just trust in the professionals to make sure that people are taken care of and [are] leaving safely,” he said at the time. “I just control what I can on the stage, and then you have the professionals to control what they can in the crowd.”
According to ABC News, the number of lawsuits against Travis Scott and Live Nation has reached nearly 400.