A tenth person has died after sustaining injuries during a fatal crowd surge at last weekend’s Astroworld Festival. The youngest victim, nine-year-old Ezra Blount, passed away from his injuries on Sunday.
His death was confirmed in a statement issued by his family’s attorney, Ben Crump. “The Blount family tonight is grieving the ultimate, incomprehensible loss of their precious young son,” the statement read.
“This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, a joyful celebration. Ezra’s death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family.
“But tonight we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer.”
Ezra Blount was sitting on his father’s shoulders during Travis Scott’s headlining set on Friday, November 5th, when the two found themselves trapped in the crowd surge. In the havoc, Blount’s father passed out and his son fell to the ground, where he was trampled.
Ezra’s family later found him at Texas Children’s Hospital listed as a John Doe. He sustained injuries to his kidney, lung, liver — “basically every organ,” his grandmother Tericia Blount said and went into cardiac arrest. He had been on a ventilator and put into a medically induced coma to treat brain swelling before his passing.
In the wake of the Astroworld tragedy, Blount’s family hired lawyers Ben Crump and Bob Hilliard to file a lawsuit. The suit names Scoremore Mgmt, Live Nation Entertainment, and Travis Scott, among others as defendants.
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The suit alleges “grossly negligent conduct” at the devastating event. It writes that organizers and Travis Scott failed to create and enforce proper safety protocols, provide sufficient security for the 50,000 people at the concert, and maintain crowd control.
It alleges that the defendants failed to stop the show until more than 40 minutes after officials said the “mass casualty event” started at 9:38 p.m. The suit cites that people in the crowd screamed for help and asked concert staff to stop the show, which witnesses have said, and footage from the event show.
“Concerts and music festivals such as this are meant to be a safe place for people of all ages to enjoy music in a controlled environment,” Crump said. “None of that was true about the Astroworld Festival.”
“It is outrageous that it took as long as it did to stop the show, as many of these deaths and injuries likely could have been prevented or mitigated,” Hilliard added.
Ezra Blount is the tenth person to die following the Astroworld tragedy. Last week, Bharti Shahani, a 22-year-old college student at Texas A&M University, pas
Police are investigating the circumstances that led to the crowd surge, which took the lives of nine other people, ranging in age from 14 to 27. Earlier this week, Bharti Shahani, a 22-year-old Texas A&M University student, became the ninth victim to pass away after sustaining severe injuries that led to her being declared brain dead.
Travis Scott has release two statements in the wake of the tragedy, “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night,” Scott wrote. “My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival.” He has promised to refund all attendees of Astroworld, and cover the funeral costs for those that have died.
