One of the victims was a 27-year-old man named Danish Baig who witnesses and family members say died trying to save his fiance during the crush.
What happened to Danish Baig?
27-year-old Danish Baig was one of the 8 victims who were killed at Astroworld. Baig was reportedly trying to rescue his fiance from being stomped and trampled when he was killed in the crush. RELATED: Astroworld Attendee Who Climbed Onstage To Beg To Stop Travis Scott’s Show Shares Her Story The couple had attended the event together but things quickly soured when Scott came onstage as they found themselves trapped in the 50,000 person crowd. Basil Baig, Danish’s brother, said of Danish, “My brother was trying to save her and he did. He saved her and it cost him his life.” Basil says his brother acted as a human shield in order to protect his fiancee, who was due to marry next month, but ended up being trampled. — Hojun Choi (@hjnchoi) November 7, 2021 “My brother was lying on the ground. They were chanting to stop the event. No one stopped the event,” Basil said. Baig’s fiancee was treated in hospital and survived. Baig’s death was as heroic as it was needless and his family is joined by many other grieving voices in calling for accountability.
Astroworld has been labeled a ‘mass casuality.’
The Astroworld Music Festival was an event held in Houston, Texas which sold out of its 50,000 tickets back in May of this year. Excitement had been building for ticket holders in the 6 months since then and Travis Scott’s concert was one of the most anticipated of the entire festival. The disaster that Travis Scott’s concert would ultimately become actually began 7 hours earlier. Videos of a crowd breaking through a barrier depict chaos as early as 2:00 pm when the first injury reportedly took place when a woman was trampled by the crowd. RELATED: Injection Spiking Attack Against Security Guard At Travis Scott’s Astroworld Is A Growing Assault Trend Houston police chief Troy Finner said that he met with Travis Scott sometime before his show on Friday to express his concern about public safety during the concert. Things seemed to progress normally for the rest of the day, leading up to Travis Scott’s appearance at around 9:00 pm. When a countdown began the crowd began to press tightly together toward the front before Travis Scott took to the stage. RELATED: 9-Year-Old Boy Fighting For His Life After Falling From Dad’s Shoulders During Astroworld Crowd Surge
This was when the crush started.
During the show several people began to be crushed and trampled, fans sought out police, security personnel and even camera crews to try and get help for people that were hurt and dying in the crowd. By 9:38, the Houston Fire Department had declared a mass casualty event and both festival personnel and first responders were tending to injured and unconscious attendees. Houston Fire Chief Same Pena said that 11 people were in cardiac arrest. The way that the crowd was crushed together, putting extra strain on the heart as breathing became more difficult. At 9:54, the show was still going on and Drake joined Scott on stage. Fans were begging for the show to be stopped so that the injured could be tended to but the show would go on for a further 15 minutes. One video shows Scott noticing an emergency vehicle slowly moving through the crowd before hyping up the crowd to continue the show and sending two people into the crowd to crowd surf. In total, hundreds of attendees were injured during the show and eight people died. RELATED: Travis Scott’s Former Manager Claims Rapper Once Left Him For Dead In An L.A. Basement Dan O’Reilly is a writer who covers news, politics, and social justice. Follow him on Twitter.
