A new lawsuit seeking $750million (£555m) has been filed on behalf of 125 attendees of the tragic Astroworld festival.
Ten people died and hundreds more were injured during the “mass casualty” Astroworld event that happened while Travis Scott was onstage on November 5.
On November 15, nine-year-old Ezra Blount died in hospital after sustaining injuries from being caught in the crowd crush. Blount was taken to hospital and placed in a medically-induced coma, following critical injury to major internal organs, including his heart, brain, kidney and liver.
So far, over one hundred different lawsuits have been filed against Scott, Live Nation and other parties involved, with attorney Ben Crump, who represents a number of those wanting to sue, saying: “Nobody should ever die from going to a concert”.
The new suit was announced by Houston-based lawyer Tony Buzbee on Instagram, where he promised that “every individual who attended that concert and who suffered injury will be fairly compensated.”
He added: “Our team has toured the site and collected evidence. We have taken statements from more than fifty witnesses. We have collected hours of video tape from almost every angle. No amount of money will fix what occurred on the night of November 5.”
“No amount of money will ever make these Plaintiffs whole; no amount of money can restore human life,” Buzbee wrote. “But, the damages sought in this case attempts to fix, help, or make up for the harms and losses suffered by these Plaintiffs-nothing more and nothing less,” the lawsuit states.
“The quantum sought includes sufficient punitive damages to punish and make an example of all involved in the streaming, promotion, organisation and failed execution of the concert, and also to encourage those who engage in such activity in the future to do so with safety at the forefront, not just as an afterthought.”
The suit is seeking damages from Scott and Drake, who joined him on stage that night, as well as promoters Live Nation and Apple, who live streamed the festival.
In the wake of the tragedy, Travis Scott has said he will pay for the funeral costs of victims of the Astroworld incident, and has partnered with counselling app BetterHelp to provide online therapy for those in need.
Last week, Scott’s team released a statement asking families of Astroworld’s victims to get in touch via email. Representatives say Scott is “distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid” to those affected.
The CEO of ParaDocs, the medical company hired by Astroworld, has also spoken out on the crowd surge tragedy, saying that his staff faced an “impossible feat” of treating 11 people with cardiac arrests at the same time.
“This is something I’ll have nightmares about for the rest of my life,” Alex Pollak said. “The team is extremely broken up about it. Seeing so many young people getting CPR at one time, it’s just something no one should have to go through. Even though we’re medical professionals, we should be used it. You can’t get used to something like that.”
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