All ten victims at the Astroworld festival died from asphyxiation according to a new report.
As per Variety, a report from the medical examiner has confirmed that all ten who died in the crowd surge died of compression asphyxia. One victim had a “contributory cause” of death on account of the “combined toxic effects of cocaine, methamphetamine and ethanol.”
The primary cause, though, for all of the victims was technically defined as “respiration prevented by external pressure on the body.” The new report contradicts the initial claims that at least some of the victims passed away due to drug-related causes.
The new report was issued on Thursday, December 16th, by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Houston, Texas, the city where Astroworld took place. It comes over one month after the concert took place on Friday, November 5th.
This week also saw the Astroworld stage finally being broken down and removed after the Houston tragedy. Crews dismantled the stage on Wednesday, December 15th, after it had continued to stand for 40 days after the deadly event.
The reason that it likely remained in place for so long afterwards is that Houston law enforcement probably needed everything in place while they conducted their investigation into what happened at the festival and what went wrong with the safety plan.
Travis Scott, meanwhile, is reportedly working on a new initiative to make U.S. concerts safer. Working specifically with the United States Conference of Mayors, the rapper and USCM plan to outline a safety report to be used at concerts and festivals in the future. The group aims to “aggressively focus on new technologies and innovations that offer ways to address these challenges.”
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Check out footage of the Astroworld stage being dismantled this week:
