Travis Scott released a statement on social media following the tragedy that occurred at Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 5, which left at least eight dead.
The 29-year-old Houston native shared his statement on Twitter on Saturday, posting a screenshot of the written note to comment on what transpired the night prior at the music festival.
“I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night,” the statement read. “My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival.”
He continued, adding, “Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life.”
“I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need,” he wrote. “Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All.”
A statement was released on the official Astroworld Festival Instagram account on Saturday morning announcing that the second night of the festival scheduled for that evening was canceled.
“Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight — especially those we lost and their loved ones,” the statement read. “We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind the festival will no longer be hold on Saturday.”
The statement continued, adding, “As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place.”
“If you have any relevant information on this, please reach out to @HoustonPolice,” the statement said. “Thank you to our partners at the Houston police department, fire department, and NRG Park for their response and support.”
According to the Houston’s fire chief, at least eight people died after a crowd surge during the festival. 17 people were transported to hospitals following the incident, while 11 people suffered from cardiac arrest and were taken away via ambulance. Throughout the event on Friday, more than 300 people were treated at an on-site field hospital.
There were around 50,000 people in attendance at the outdoor festival. The Houston Chronicle reported that Scott stopped performing multiple times throughout the night when he spotted distressed fans in the crowd near the stage.
Fire Chief Samuel Peña said in a news conference early on Saturday that “the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage” around 9:15 p.m. local time (10:15 p.m. ET). Peña said that this “cause some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” adding, “People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.”
The cause of death of the eight victims is still unknown at this time.
Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite was situated near the front of the concert, explaining in a news conference that the incident began to develop quickly and immediately required them to start doing CPR.
“It seems like it happened with just over the course of a few minutes — suddenly we had several people down on the ground experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode," he said.
Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, called the night’s events a “tragedy,” asking for a “detailed briefing with all stakeholders” including Live Nation, NRG Park and law enforcement to look into how Astroworld “got out of control.”