Netflix viewers have been left “blown away” after watching a documentary about a concert tragedy that left 10 people dead. The documentary titled The Astroworld Tragedy follows the horrific events that occured at American rapper Travis Scott’s annual festival.
The event took place in Houston on November 5, 2021 and was the third Astroworld Festival thrown by the rapper. Just minutes before Scott took to the stage, several people were crushed in a crowd surge that only worsened as the concert went on. Ten people aged between nine and 27 died and more than 300 people were treated for injuries. The documentary features interviews with survivors, family of those who died, workers who were on shift at the festival and a crowd safety expert. Survivors highlighted the difficulties they faced trying to breathe in the countdown to Scott’s appearance. “The music started playing, and you just felt your whole body move forward,” recalled one survivor.
However, following on from the tragic event, no one has faced criminal charges. The documentary has been made to bring the tragedy back into public consciousness, and it has dropped quite a few revelations.
Crowd safety expert Scott Davidson said in the documentary: “I believe Astroworld 2021 was not an accident. It was an inevitability due to the lack of foresight and the abandonment of basic safety protocols.”
The footage shown in the documentary shows how crowds of people rushed the safety barriers and entrances while the authorities failed to gain control of the “overwhelming chaos”.
Many factors have been blamed as part of the reason for the festival going so wrong, including the amount of tickets sold, with experts claiming that nearly double the amount of tickets were sold than should have been. The main stage and festival design has also been criticised as part of the problem.
Scott has said he was unaware of what was happening in the crowd.
In response to the episode, festival organisers Live Nation issued a statement to Netflix about the allegations, stating the capacity was set by SMG Global and the Houston Fire Department and that “attendees on site did not exceed approved capacity”.
“The Festival Safety & Risk Director and HPD representatives agreed to and executed an early show stop,” it added.
Viewers of the documentary took to Reddit to share their views on the horrific event.
One person said: “I was BLOWN AWAY by the camera footage from the people at the show. I couldn’t catch my breath watching so I cannot imagine living it. People f****** DIED and no one got any repercussions…. That’s sickening.”
“I’m glad survivors and families got to speak but I wanted an investigation on how it went down, looking at all the departments, looking at security and they just kinda wrapped it up quickly,” another viewer commented.
A third added: “I thought the doc was really well done. It’s crazy how much cell phone footage they have of how crazy the crowd became.”
Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy is available to watch on Netflix.