Brazos Valley couple describe times tragedy struck at Astroworld music festival

HOUSTON, Texas (KBTX) – The Astroworld music festival in Houston turned deadly as more than 50,000 people took to the stage as Travis Scott and others performed on Friday night. A couple from Conroe who volunteered for the event said they knew things would be crazy but didn’t expect the event to turn out to be tragic.

Authorities say at least eight people have died and hundreds have been injured in what is described by authorities as a “crowd surge”.

Lauren Henderson and Jake Majeski from Conroe volunteered at the event to help raise funds for a local softball team. They say the event started off normally, but things got out of hand when Travis Scott and Drake performed.

“There was a lot of drug use, there was definitely a lot of alcohol, but I didn’t expect it to get that bad. I knew it would be wild. I knew it would be a little crazy. I didn’t expect people to lose their lives. I did not expect that hundreds of people would still be missing.

It got to the point that the couple had to help the participants get medical attention.

“Eventually they got a little bit crazy, probably in the first 20 minutes after he was on stage. The crowd started to get closer and closer to the stage,” Henderson said. “People were doing each other. stomping. When we closed our booth we had a guy having an anxiety attack. I mean he was hyperventilating, panicking, his little brother was pushed down and stomped on, kicked, knocked, someone stole his shoes, we ended up having to take him to the medical tent.

Henderson’s boyfriend Jake Majeski believes event planners weren’t prepared for the crowds.

“They rushed to the gates at 8 am. We were there settling in at nine o’clock to begin serving. We were already serving at nine in the morning. If they are already pressing the doors and they have sold 100,000 tickets, it was overcapacity, ”said Majeski.

At one point, Henderson describes breaking up with Majeski. She says it’s a night she’ll never forget.

“We saw people lying there. I don’t know if they passed out or if they were asleep. I don’t know if it was someone who died. I didn’t stop for it. I just got out. I grabbed hold of him, and he grabbed hold of me, and we left. It was horrible.”

Majeski and Henderson thank the first responders, vendors, employees and fans who stopped by to help those injured in the incident.

“I know the staff we worked with worked really hard to help anyone they could,” said Majeski. “I saw quite a few people who went above and beyond to help people who were injured. The guy who had a panic attack, we asked one of our beer vendors to go get a golf cart and drive him to the medical center.

“There were multiple law enforcement agencies, multiple medical agencies, fire departments, people in the crowd who were nurses,” Henderson said. “There were people doing CPR, trying to pick people up, trying to get them for a medical exam. Medical has just been overwhelmed. They didn’t have enough medical staff to take care of the number of injuries and the help they needed, but they did what they could. They did their best.

Henderson and Majeski returned to Houston on Saturday morning to bring food, water and supplies to first responders and those in need.

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