The Astroworld tragedy continues to unravel by the day and recently, parents of nine-year-old Ezra Blount spoke out about the boy’s current condition.
Astroworld tragedy: Update on Ezra Blount
In an interview with ABC news channel KTRK-TV, Treston, Blout’s father, recalled the moment he lost consciousness during a trampling that took place as Travis Scott took to the stage of his festival.
In the midst of pandemonium set off by the sight of the Cactus Jack musician, more than 50 000 fans started pushing to get as close to the stage as possible.
Treston, according to his father, had Ezra on his shoulders at the time. Things quickly turned to a nightmare when, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer force of 50 000 people pushing and trampling towards the stage, Treston lost consciousness and collapsed.
When his father passed out, Ezra fell into the crowd and according to the grandfather, “was trampled really bad.”
Ezra was rushed to a nearby Houston, Texas, hospital where he has been kept in a coma since the incident.
It’s said that his organs suffered severe damage and while he is, by definition, still alive, the blunt force trauma sustained from the trampling did produce swells on his brain.
The Blount family has since joined the more than 100 complainants who’ve filed a lawsuit against Scott and Astroworld festival organisers, Live Nation.
Astroworld investigation: Here’s the latest
Investigations into last week Astroworld tragedy continue. Central to unravelling the sequence of events that led to mass deaths at Scott’s festival is the role Houston police, concert producers and directors, and security played in the deadly trampling that claimed nine lives and left hundreds injured physically, and thousands more mentally.
Records collected thus far, including video footage, transcripts from police radios, and eyewitness accounts suggest that police may have been aware of the chaos hours before tragedy struck.
However, according to Houston police Chief Troy Finner, so did the festival’s production team.
In a statement, Chief Finner revealed that the festival organiser’s team was radioed in about CPR “underway on one or more individuals.” Police subsequently called for those with authority to immediately stop the show.
Media partners: One point of clarification from Police Chief @TroyFinner: https://t.co/3pIbGguQjv pic.twitter.com/eTsw5t7vkl
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) November 10, 2021
Of course, we now know that multiple calls for Astroworld festival to be stopped while Scott was on stage, were ignored, resulting in the deaths of:
- Bharti Shahan, 22;
- John Hilgert, 14;
- Brianna Rodriguez, 16;
- Jacob Jurinek, 20;
- Franco Patinño, 21;
- Axel Acosta, 21;
- Rudy Peña, 23;
- Madison Dubiski, 23; and
- Danish Baig, 27
The musician, who’s unreservedly apologised for the Astroworld tragedy, faces more than 100 lawsuits, with more legal woes expected in the weeks to come.