A nine-year-old boy has become the youngest person killed by a crowd surge at the Astroworld music festival in Texas.
Ezra Blount, from Dallas, died yesterday (Sunday, November 14), nine days after he suffered catastrophic injuries at the festival.
He had been in a medically induced coma at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, family lawyer Ben Crump said.
Ezra is the tenth person who attended the festival to die from injuries sustained in the horrifying crush during the headline set by rapper Travis Scott, the festival's founder.
“The Blount family tonight is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son,” Crump said last night.
“This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, what should have been a joyful celebration.”
Ezra incurred severe damage to his brain, kidney, and liver after being “kicked, stepped on, and trampled, and nearly crushed to death," according to a lawsuit his family has filed against Scott and the event's promoter, Live Nation.
The family is seeking at least $1 million in damages.
Treston Blount, Ezra's father, described how the tragedy unfolded in a post on a GoFundMe page he set up to help pay Ezra's medical expenses.
He said his son was sitting on his shoulders when a crowd surge crushed them.
He lost consciousness and when he came to, Ezra was missing. After a frantic search, he found his son lying unidentified in hospital.
The others who died ranged in age from 14 to 27. About 300 people were treated at the festival site and 13 needed hospital treatment.
Houston police and fire department investigators have said they are reviewing surveillance video provided by Live Nation, as well as dozens of clips people at the show widely shared on social media.
Investigators also planned to speak with Live Nation representatives, Scott and concertgoers.
Scott and the event organisers are now the focus of a criminal investigation.
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