Rapper Travis Scott will not face criminal charges over Astroworld crowd surge

Ten festival-goers died in the crush

Travis Scott performs during the Astroworld Festival at NRG Stadium on November 9, 2019, in Houston, Texas. AFP

A Texas grand jury on Thursday declined to indict rap superstar Travis Scott in a criminal investigation of a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival, where some spectators were packed so tightly they could not move their arms or breathe.

Lawyer Kent Schaffer confirmed that the Harris County grand jury had met and decided not to indict his client on any criminal charges from the concert.

Mr Schaffer said he was not sure what charges the panel had considered.

“He never encouraged people to do anything that resulted in other people being hurt,” Mr Schaffer said, adding that the decision was “a great relief".

The November 5, 2021, crowd surge in Houston killed 10 young festival-goers who ranged in age from 9 to 27.

The official cause of death was compression asphyxia, which an expert likened to being crushed by a car.

About 300 people were injured and treated at the scene, and 25 were taken to hospitals.

Houston police and federal officials have been investigating whether Scott, concert promoter Live Nation and others had adequate safety measures in place.

Mr Schaffer said he felt sympathy for those who were killed at the festival and their families.

“But Travis is not responsible,” he said. “Bringing criminal charges against him will not ease their pain.”

More than 500 lawsuits were filed over the deaths and injuries at the concert, including many against Live Nation and Scott.

Some have since been settled. About 50,000 people attended the festival.

A 56-page event operations plan for the event had detailed protocols for various dangerous scenarios including a shooting, bomb or terrorist threats and severe weather.

But it did not include information on what to do in the event of a crowd surge.

Similar crushes have happened all over the world, from the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium in England that killed 97 fans, to Halloween festivities in the South Korean capital Seoul in October 2022, where at least 159 died.

Most people who die in crowd surges suffocate.