9-Year-Old Dies From Astroworld Injuries, Bringing Death Toll To 10
The story of the deadly crowd crush at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival, already impossibly tragic, is now even more heartbreaking. On November 5, while Scott was performing, the Astroworld festival descended into chaos, and a crowd surge injured hundreds of festivalgoers. In the immediate aftermath of the festival, eight people had died, and many more had been hospitalized. Last week, 22-year-old Bharti Shahani also died, bringing the Astroworld death toll to nine. Now, nine-year-old Travis Scott fan Ezra Blount has also died after living on life support ever since the festival. Blount is the youngest Astroworld victim.
Houston’s ABC13 reports that Ezra Blount died on Sunday. He’d gone to Astroworld with his father Treston Blount. As the festival’s screens counted down the time before Scott took the stage, Treston lifted Ezra on to his shoulders, and the two stayed near the back of the crowd. As the clock neared zero, though, people behind the father and son started pushing them forwards. In the crush of bodies, Treston passed out. Ezra fell to the ground and was trampled.
When Treston woke up, he frantically searched festival grounds for his son before learning that Ezra had been hospitalized. His major organs were damaged, and his brain was swollen. Doctors put Ezra into a medically induced coma. Ezra’s family launched a Gofundme campaign.
Before Ezra’s death, the boy’s family filed a lawsuit against Travis Scott and promoters Live Nation, among others. In a statement, family attorney Ben Crump says:
The Blount family is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son. This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, what should have been a joyful celebration. Ezra’s death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family. But we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer.
On Twitter, Houston mayor Sylvester Turner, who presented Travis Scott with the key to the city during the 2019 Astroworld festival, posted about mourning Ezra Blount.