Weeks have passed since the tumultuous event that was this year’s Astroworld Festival took place, but that doesn’t mean the pain of those impacted has gotten any easier to deal with. A new investigative report from The Houston Chronicle is offering new insight into exactly what went wrong at the Travis Scott founded event from all angles, noting that it was a “catastrophe weeks in the making.”
The article names “failures by multiple authorities tasked with ensuring the safety of attendees that day, including inadequate and poorly trained security, deficiencies coordination between city officials and festival management, and a nearly hour long delay in halting the show after the danger became apparent” as key reasons why things fell apart.
Following the November 5th disaster, countless theories hit social media – some saying that concert goers were injected by drugs, prompting them to go into cardiac arrest – as outsiders tried to piece together what possibly could’ve been happened at the “concert in hell,” as its been described by some patrons.
Interviews with The Houston Chronicle recount stories from attendees and security guards alike. Samuel Bush told the outlet that his nephew, Jackson, texted him with word of a potential security job at the show (it’s been reported that ASM executives had spent weeks stressing over staffing concerns at Astroworld, and as a result, took on a bunch of last minute hires), saying that all they had to do was text their information to a number on the listing; both men did, and were told to arrive at NRG Park dressed in all black the next morning.
The posting advertised the security role at an appealing wage of $30 an hour for two 16-hour days. Samuel, who had worked security in the past, thought it would be “easy money,” but when he and Jackson arrived at work, they were given, “no training or nothing. We just went to work.” Neither of the Bush men were asked for a security guard license status or background check.
This is particularly troubling considering that “the lowest-level security guard license in Texas involves a six-hour training course, a background check and registering with the Department of Public Safety.” While Jackson would be in the clear by these standards, state records show, Samuel would not, and it’s entirely likely hundreds of other guards working that day wouldn’t have either.
The entire article takes a much deeper dive into the Astroworld fiasco, sharing stories from Namrata Shahani, whose sister, Bharti, passed away at the event, attendees Max Morbidelli and Juan Garcia, as well as unnamed sources who aren’t authorized to speak on the matter publicly – check it out here.
[Via]