Photo Courtesy of NPR

When 50,000 people packed into NRG Park in Houston, Texas, on day one of Travis Scott’s annual Astroworld Festival, there was no telling the tragedy that would unfold that night. With 10 people dead and more than 300 reportedly treated for injuries, the biggest question being debated since Friday, Nov. 5, has been, “Who’s to blame?”

That question has quite a few different answers, some more nuanced than others. The first subject of the subsequent finger-pointing was the man who conceptualized the festival, Scott himself. As more and more footage and firsthand accounts of the performance were spread online, it became increasingly clear that Scott was aware of the disastrous events occurring in the crowd. Videos showed Scott performing as audience members were attended to by medical staff within his line of sight. More footage from the concert showed Scott temporarily pausing his performance for injured or unconscious people in the crowd to receive medical attention.

Despite these sporadic pauses in the show, many have argued that Scott should have taken it upon himself to end the performance prematurely and to halt any further injuries. When more footage went viral showing audience members pleading with concert staff to stop the performance, stressing the urgency of the safety concerns, the pointed fingers moved to Live Nation, the company that organized the event. According to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, members of the production team were informed by Houston Police Department personnel that an audience member was receiving CPR well before the performance actually came to an end.

These arguments often don’t consider the potential dangers presented by an early ending to the show; premature exits by artists at their own concerts have, in the past, led to riots or violence. In an already-dangerous environment like that of the Astroworld crowd, an early exit from Scott could have easily led to even more fatalities. With that being said, there was surely a more preferable way to handle the crisis than continuing the performance and largely ignoring the dangers it exacerbated.

Firsthand accounts from the crowd have described the staffing and equipment situations at the festival as worse than inadequate, with a negligible number of medical personnel on hand and insufficient medical equipment. Attendees in the medical field reported stepping in to assist the skeleton crew actually assigned to the event, and even some concertgoers outside of the medical field took it upon themselves to perform CPR on those who were not receiving timely attention. The lack of emergency preparedness put everyone in attendance at further unnecessary risk.

Questions regarding overcrowding have also been asked of the event’s organizers. While NRG Park is capable of accommodating up to 200,000 people, the 50,000 who bought tickets were joined by hundreds of others who reportedly hopped barricades to enter the park. The crowd’s unruliness had been expected by event staff, but the possibility of a crowd surge or similar dangerous crowd conditions were allegedly not a focus of the planning process.

With a lawsuit already filed against Scott and Live Nation by Thomas J. Henry, who claimed on Wednesday, Nov. 10, to have approximately 110 clients involved with the suit, the findings of the ongoing investigation could have huge implications for how concert organizers operate moving forward. Although Scott’s Astroworld merchandise often reads, “Wish you were here,” it’s clear that many in attendance that night are now wishing they never went.