The 10 victims who died at Travis Scott's Astroworld festival last month all suffered from compression asphyxia, according to a report from the medical examiner.
It was initially suggested that at least some of the victims had died of drug-related causes but according to the report released on Thursday by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Houston, just one victim is cited as having a contributory cause of "combined toxic effects of cocaine, methamphetamine, and ethanol," Variety reported.
The primary cause of death for the 10 victims is "respiration prevented by external pressure on the body," the outlet noted.
The victims died, and multiple others were injured, when the crowd surged at the Nov. 5 event. An investigation by The Washington Post found that most of those who died were in close proximity to one another, in the viewing area's south quadrant.
Witnesses speaking with the outlet described people collapsing under the pressure of the crowd.
An analysis conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that there was as little as 1.85 square feet per person in parts of the area where many of the dead were concentrated. The Post further noted that "three concertgoers who died appeared unconscious in a pile of other fallen fans. "
Dr. George W. Williams with UT Health Houston explained to KHOU how the victims would have suffered compression asphyxiation.
"When we have compression asphyxiation, you’re looking at so much force — hundreds of pounds of force outside the chest — to where there’s force outside the chest emptying the chest," he said.
"When there’s barely standing room and you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with people both in the front and the back, all it takes is one person tripping on a rock or pushing forward to where you get a domino effect and one person pushes another and the next and the next. And all that collective weight can end up on just a few people."
Attorneys representing the families of the victims swiftly reacted to the medical examiner's report.
"The report confirms what the family already knew," said Tony Buzbee, who is representing the family of Axel Acosta, one of the 10 people who died. "Which is that Axel was crushed and killed that night by the crowd, through no fault of his own."
Attorney James Lassiter, who represents the family of Bharti Shahani, another one of the victims, added that the report confirms the family's "worst fears."
"Their beloved daughter’s last living moments were surely marked with suffering, panic, and terror," he said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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