What happened at Travis Scott's concert? What is crowd surge?

One reason why a crowd surge is different from a stampede is because in the latter, there is movement only from one direction

A music festival, named Astroworld festival, by American rapper Travis Scott, in Houston on Friday, saw a massive crowd surge that resulted in the death of eight people while 300 others were injured. More than 50,000 fans had attended the festival outside NRG Park, where many including a 10-year-old were left injured.

How do such crowd surges happen

According to experts, a crowd surge occurs mainly due to the lack of space. It is also important to keep in mind that the density of the crowd should be based on the size of the venue. Having enough space for everyone should be kept in mind and large enough gaps are needed for people to move. According to experts, people often die due to lack of oxygen and not because they get trampled.

One reason why a crowd surge is different from a stampede is that in the latter there is movement only from one direction. In a surge, you have people moving from two directions, hitting each other. The situation gets even worse when people fall, which causes a pileup. This means the pressure can also hit from above as well.

Also Read:Here is why crowd surges can kill people

Considering the high-intensity, energetic performance, that Travis Scott is known for, the venue authorities should have taken necessary precautions, which is often done for such events.

While crowd density is the primary reason for such a cause, it usually has a catalyst. For example, a football match in a stadium in Nepal, in 1988, saw a crowd surge which resulted in the death of 93 spectators, due to a sudden downpour.

Some other instances include 'The Who' concert tragedy in 1979 when a rush outside the venue by a bunch of concert-goers resulted in the death of 11 people.

Another one was the infamous Hillsborough tragedy where 97 people died in a massive crowd surge, during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest in 1989.

How is it different from a stampede?

As mentioned earlier, while a stampede usually occurs from one direction, a crowd surge can happen from 2 or more, causing a lot more panic, and making it even harder to control.

People also refrain from using 'stampede' to describe such events as they will tend to put the people in the crowd at fault for the tragedy. Instead, they try to put the blame on the event's organisers for their failure in providing a safe environment.

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