One of the lawsuits claims that Live Nation security stood idly while concert-goers begged for help.
At least 40 lawsuits have been filed against Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and rapper Travis Scott following last week’s deadly crowd crush at the Astroworld Festival in Houston.
According to Bloomberg, Canadian rapper and singer Drake has also been named as a defendant in several of the lawsuits.
Drake, adds Bloomberg, had appeared on-stage at the same time as Scott. During their November 5th performance, chaos broke out among the crowd, causing eight deaths and hundreds of injuries.
However, experts believe that the death told could rise. Bloomberg notes that 22-year-old Bharti Shahani, a senior at Texas A&M University, is in critical condition and was declared brain dead following her injuries. Meanwhile, a 9-year-old boy has been placed in a medically-induced coma and is reportedly fighting for his life.
One of the lawsuits, filed by Austin resident Kristian Parades, claims that the performers “were negligent for inciting a riot and violence,” and that Live Nation should have made better preparations to accommodate artists with a history of encouraging or otherwise facilitating public disorder.
Parades, adds CBS News, had been standing at the front of the general admission section during the crush, near a metal barrier cordoning the VIPs-only area.
When Scott began performing, Parades said he “felt and immediate push” before “the crowd became chaotic and a stampede began.”
“Many begged security guards hired by Live Nation Entertainment for help, but were ignored,” the lawsuit asserts.
In his lawsuit, Parades says that his injuries will last “for a long time into the future, if not for his entire life.”
Parades is allegedly seeking up to $1 million in damages.
Another lawsuit, says CBS News, was filed by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing 21-year-old concert-goer Noah Gutierrez.
“We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced — the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying unsuccessfully to save them,” Crump said. “We will be pursuing justice for all our clients who were harmed in this tragic and preventable event.”
Crump said that he expects to file more lawsuits on behalf of other victims within the coming week.
While some concert-goers have blamed Drake, Travis Scott, and Live Nation, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said that a “crowd surge” began after some people began to “compress” toward the stage.
“That caused some panic, and it started causing injuries,” Pena said.
Nevertheless, another plaintiff—identified by CBS News as Manuel Souza—suggests that Drake, Scott, and Live Nation should have known that crowd conditions were “escalating,” and that a tragedy was imminent without intervention.
Souza’s injuries, claims his complaint, “were the inevitable and predictable result of [the] defendants’ conscious disregard of the extreme risks of harm to concertgoers that had been escalating since hours earlier.”
“Eventually, due to defendants’ active decision to let the show go on, the scene devolved into a complete melee, resulting in the needless, untimely death of at least 8 people and injuries to scores of others.”
Sources
Live Nation Facing at Least 40 Lawsuits Over Concert Tragedy
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