Astroworld Victim, 9, In Coma After Falling From Father’s Shoulders During Crowd Surge
A young boy has reportedly been hospitalized in Texas after sustaining severe injuries stemming from the mass casualty event at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival over the weekend.
According to KTRK reporter Stefania Okolie, Ezra Blount experienced organ damage, brain swelling and is in a coma after being on his father’s shoulders and getting trampled during the chaotic event.
Blount’s father reportedly tried to protect him from the massive crowd surge, which caused eight fatalities and numerous injuries, many involving hospitalization.
According to XXL, Ezra’s father passed out from pressure amid the surge to which the boy fell to the ground and was trampled.
"We have learned a 9 YO boy is fighting for his life at Texas Children’s Hospital after his family says he was trampled at #AstroWorld -child was on his dads shoulders during the crowd surge, his dad passed out from pressure, his son fell and concert goers trampled him," Okolie tweeted.
She continued: "The child’s family tells me all of his organs are damaged, and he has severe swelling in his brain. They praying for a full recovery, which would be a miracle. The 9 YO boy is in coma right now & brain swelling has gotten progressively worse today after he was trampled at #Astroworld .family does not want his name shared right now, but please lift this child in prayer. He didn’t deserve this. We hear from Grandfather at 5 @abc13houston."
Along with two photos of Blount, the news reporter added: "Please lift this sweet boy in prayer. 9YO Ezra Blount was on his dads shoulders at #AstroWorld as he tried to protect him from crowd surge. His dad was overcome by pressure, Ezra fell and was trampled. His family says all organs are damaged, brain swelling- praying for a miracle."
Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what happened, but the incident occurred when “the crowd surged towards the stage, crushing those at the front who were unable to escape,” local fire chief Sam Peña told CNN.
The incident broke out just after 9 p.m. CST. An estimated 50,000 people attended the sold-out event at NRG Park.
Video recordings of the event shows Travis on-stage looking confused as an ambulance with flashing lights moves into the densely packed crowd.
Concert-goers reportedly rushed the stage in an effort to escape the chaos, causing panic, while the situation worsened when security personnel were overwhelmed, police say.
