Another Astroworld victim dies from concert injuries, bringing death toll to 9

A ninth Astroworld attendee has died as a result of injuries sustained during the crowd surge during Travis Scott’s performance.

Twenty-two year-old Texas A&M senior Bharti Shahani died on Wednesday, the family’s lawyer announced on Thursday. Shahani attended the concert with her sister and cousin, both of which came out physically unscathed. Shahani was taken to the hospital on Saturday night, where she was placed on a ventilator.

On Thursday, the family’s lawyer made the announcement at a news conference. “At 6:50 last night, Bharti Shahani lost her battle from the horrific injuries she sustained at the Astroworld festival,” he said. Shahani’s cousin, Mohit Bellani, who was at the concert with her, said that when the crowd began surging forward, they were separated. “Once one person fell, people started toppling like dominos,” Bellani told KRTK. “It was like a sinkhole. People were falling on top of each other.”

A criminal investigation into the situation has begun, but authorities have yet to name anyone at fault. Beginning Sunday, the day after the concert, people began filing lawsuits against Scott. There are now at least 58 lawsuits. Scott has promised to refund all concertgoers and pay for the funerals of all who passed, but some are skeptical that this will come with fine print that will prevent anyone from taking future legal action.

Shortly into the Scott’s set, the injuries began, with authorities confirming that at 9:21, a police officer radioed, “Looks like folks are coming out of the crowd complaining of difficulty breathing, crushing-type injuries. Seems like the crowd is compressing on itself.”

Scott’s set began just after 9 PM. Scott didn’t stop performing until 10:15, with Drake coming out as a guest performer towards the end. He and his team are receiving criticism for not stopping the show once the surge began and became noticeable. Scott claims he had no knowledge anything was happening until later in the night.