Travis Scott Astroworld
Festival goers are seen rushing into the VIP area prior to Travis Scott performing during day one of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston.
Amy Harris/Invision/AP
  • Eyewitnesses told Insider that their pleas to stop Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival were ignored.
  • Videos have emerged of people begging camera operators to shut it down.
  • The festival continued, and at least eight people died and hundreds more were injured.

As the crowd surged and emergency responders battled to resuscitate unconscious people, festival organizers ignored the pleas of fans at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival to shut it down, several eyewitnesses told Insider.

"I saw people; they were asking to stop it," said Jennifer Hernandez, a 24-year-old college student who was among the 50,000 estimated crowd, during a phone call with Insider.

But, Hernandez said, the festival continued. "I felt like I was having a panic attack, my heart kept going fast, I couldn't breathe… and the security for the event didn't really do much," she said. "It got really bad, people were just squished up, there was no air."

The chaos resulted in at least eight people dying and hundreds more getting injured, Insider reported.

Another eyewitness, 19-year-old Batool, said she heard people begging the camera operators to stop the show. "I also screamed for help and to get me out of there," she told Insider. "I started hyperventilating and I couldn't breathe and I started screaming ... and people would not listen."

Batool said that she suspects Scott saw what was unfolding in the crowd. "I can tell he noticed what was going on because when I was being lifted out, he pointed at a guy that wasn't okay in the crowd," she added.

A video, shared on Twitter, shows an unconscious man being carried out of the crowd as Scott continues to sing.

Another video, posted on Twitter, shows him briefly stopping the concert to get an attendee medical attention.

Seanna Faith, captured on video speaking to a cameraman, said in an Instagram post that her pleas were ignored. "He told me to get off the platform, and continued filming," she wrote.

A post shared by ✦ Seanna ☾ (@seannafaith)

Another frantic Astroworld spectator pleaded with a cameraman, video shows. "People are fucking dying," he can be heard yelling in the clip.

Scott can be heard, on a loudspeaker, responding: "Who asked me to stop? You all know what you came here to do."

Another concertgoer, Cody Hartt, said on Twitter that he alerted security about the crush. Security said, "We already know, and we can't do anything to stop the show. They're streaming live," he claims.

He also claims that the crew at another stage turned their backs when he asked for an announcement to stop the show.

Nathaniel Isaac Jewell, who managed to get out of the crowd surge unscathed, told Insider that the festival was "full-on survival mode."

"I can't even count the number of people walking by me, couples together, crying, just trying to get out, screaming at people to get out," he said.

No cause of death has been given for the eight people who died, pending an investigation by the medical examiner, the fire chief said.

Police are still reportedly working to identify the victims, and authorities had set up a "reunification center" for people with missing family members, Insider's Alia Shoaib reported.

A Twitter account for Astroworld offered condolences to the families who've lost their loved ones. "We are focused on supporting local officials however we can," the account said, adding that the police are looking into the cardiac arrests.

Read the original article on Insider