On 5th November 2021, a crowd crush during Travis Scott’s headline performance at Astroworld festival resulted in hundreds of injuries and 10 deaths.
Last week, the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy brought new attention to the disaster with new insight into what went wrong.
The documentary speaks to those involved and delves into the dangerous staging, overcrowding and other factors that caused the tragedy.
Since the Astoworld incident, all 10 families of the victims filed wrongful death lawsuits against both Travis Scott and Live Nation, which were settled out of court. The last lawsuit was settled in May 2024. However, no lawsuits went before a jury and after a 2023 police investigation, a grand jury declined to indict Scott and five others connected to the festival.
But, who actually were the victims of the Astroworld crowd crush?
Axel Acosta
via GoFundMe
21-year-old Axel Acosta came from the small town Tieton in Washington. He studied computer science at Western Washington University, and travelled to Houston by himself for the Astroworld festival.
In an interview following the disaster, Acosta’s father Edgar said he became worried after hearing of the accident. He began calling local hospitals and police after his son didn’t answer his phone.
Initially, Axel was thought to not be among the victims. However, his identity was revealed after authorities circulated a photo of the 21-year-old.
Danish Baig
via Instagram
Danish Baig was 27 years old when he died. He was a district manager for telecom company AT&T in the region of Dallas, Texas. Danish reportedly got married less than a month before the concert and died while trying to save his new wife.
Danish’s brother Basil Baig expressed his grief in an Instagram post. He wrote: “You saved a life by giving your life. You put your fiancé first and then yourself. You saved her i hope you know that. I cant believe this and i just wished that we didn’t get separated. Im in so much pain brother i wish i could have at least held you or talked to you. Im all over the place but know you are never going to be forgotten. You have made such a impact in your short life. ”
Ezra Blount
via GoFundMe
The youngest victim of the Astroworld crush was nine-year-old Ezra Blount. Ezra died 10 days after the the incident, after he was placed in an induced coma.
Ezra’s father, Treston Blount later said they had stayed at the back of the crowd because they thought it would be calmer. When they were caught up in the crush, Treston lost consciousness. This resulted in Ezra, who was sitting on his shoulders, to fall and be trampled.
Lawyer Ben Crump made a statement on behalf of the family after Ezra’s death. He said: “The Blount family tonight 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.”
Madison Dubiski
via Facebook
Madison Dubiski was a 23-year-old student at the University of Mississippi. Originally from Cypress in Texas, she also worked at an advertising agency in Houston. Madison had gone to Astroworld with her brother Ty, but they became separated during the crowd crush.
Former classmate Lauren Vogler described Madison to the Houston Chronicle as “super bright, uplifting, and just an all-around sweet girl. She was definitely the life of the party and loved by so many people”.
Jacob Jurinek
via the Jurinek family
20-year-old Jacob Jurinek was an art and media student at Southern Illinois University. He went to Astroworld to celebrate his 21st birthday with his friend Franco Patiño, another one of the victims.
South Illinois University’s chancellor described Jacob as “a creative, intelligent young man with a promising career in journalism and advertising”.
His family also made a statement to Today, saying: “Jake was beloved by his family and by his seemingly countless number of friends for his contagious enthusiasm, his boundless energy and his unwavering positive attitude. He was an avid fan of music, an artist, a son, a best friend to many, a loving and beloved cousin, nephew and grandson.”
John Hilgert
via Facebook
John Hilgert was a 14-year-old freshman at Memorial High School in Houston Texas, who was also an avid baseball player.
When he arrived at the concert, he texted a friend to ensure they arrived at Astroworld early and found a good spot.
His mother Tracy Faulkner said: “John was a good student and athlete and so polite. He was the sweetest and smartest young man.”
Memorial High School also wrote a statement on social media, saying: “Our hearts go out to the student’s family and to his friends and our staff at Memorial. This is a terrible loss, and the entire MHS family is grieving today.”
Franco Patiño
via LinkedIn
Like his friend Jacob Jurinek who also died at the concert, Franco Patiño was from Naperville, Illinois and was 21 years old. He was a student at the University of Dayton in Ohio, studying biomedical engineering. He was also a member of a Hispanic-interest fraternity and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at Dayton.
His brother Julio said that Franco had hoped to construct an exoskeleton for his mother, who suffers from inclusion body myositis and is unable to walk, describing him as “just that type of person”.
Julio continued: “He was always there for the people he cared about. He had a big heart.”
Rudy Peña
via GoFundMe
23-year-old Rudy Peña was the youngest of five siblings. He worked as a medical assistant in a rehabilitation clinic alongside his studies in criminal justice at a college in Laredo, Texas.
His sister Jennifer described Rudy as “there for everybody. He loved to be close to his friends and family. He helped a lot. He was always smiling.”
Brianna Rodriguez
via GoFundMe
Brianna Rodriguez was a 16-year-old high schooler, an avid dancer and member of the school’s band. After her death, Brianna’s family set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her funeral, which over 1,500 people donated $66,455 (£48,983) to. This number more than double the page’s target of $30,000 (£22,338). On her GoFundMe page, Brianna’s page wrote: “Dancing was her passion and now she’s dancing her way to heaven’s pearly gates”.
Her band also paid tribute to her in a Twitter post and described her as “someone who could always make anyone smile. Although she’s gone and she cannot perform with us anymore, we know that she’d want to still enjoy our time in Heights [high school]”.
Bharti Shahani
via GoFundMe
Finally, 22-year-old Bharti Shahani was an electronics systems engineering student at Texas A&M University. She was attending her first music festival at Astroworld with her cousin, and sister Namrata.
Bharti died five days after the concert on 10th November 2021. She spent her time since the accident on a ventilator in hospital due to her critical injuries.
At a later news conference, Namrata expressed her grief, saying: “Words cannot describe how I’m feeling right now. We were always together, always doing things together.”
In a statement, the Shahani’s family attorney described Bharti as a “a shining star in the community” and “a high achieving college student about to graduate from Texas A&M university with high, high grades”.
Featured image via Netflix
