Drake has broken his silence on the “devastating tragedy” at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, which left eight young people dead and scores more injured over the weekend.
“I hate resorting to this platform to express an emotion as delicate as grief, but this is where I find myself,” he wrote in a social media statement Monday night.
“My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering. I will continue to pray for all of them, and will be of service in anyway I can. May God be with you and bless you all.”
The Grammy-winning rapper took to the stage alongside 30-year-old Scott at NRG park in Houston on Friday as a surprise guest for the multi-day music festival. Authorities said fans started to surge toward the stage a short time later around 9:15 p.m., causing widespread panic among the crowd of 50,000 people.
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said the festival’s on-site medical units were “quickly overwhelmed” by the chaos, forcing first responders to ask terrified concert-goers to lend a hand and administer to CPR to other victims.
Eight people were killed and more than 300 injured in the deadly crush, including a 9-year-old boy, who was trampled and remained in a coma on Tuesday.
Those pronounced dead in wake of the incident include 27-year-old Mirza Danish Baig, 16-year-old Brianna Rodriguez, 21-year-old Axel Acosta, 14-year-old John Hilgert, 21-year-old Franco Patino, 20-year-old Jake E. Jurinek, 23-year-old Rodolfo Peña and 23-year-old Madison Dubiski.
Scott, a Houston-born rapper who is expecting his second child with Kylie Jenner, launched Astroworld as an annual multi-day music event back in 2018, the same year his hit “Sicko Mode” topped the Billboard Hot 100. He said he is working with local officials to “get to the bottom of” what happened at the festival.
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