Who were the victims of Astroworld? Everything to know as Netflix releases Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy

Netflix's latest documentary, Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, explores the tragedy at Travis Scott's 2021 Astroworld Festival, which claimed the lives of 10.

The festival took place in November 2021 and also had SZA, Bad Bunny, and Lil Baby in its lineup. It was originally scheduled for two dates, but the second show was canceled when a stampede the previous night culminated in 10 deaths and several injuries. Scott, who founded the festival, continued to perform on stage while concertgoers were being trampled.

All of the victims were between the ages of nine and 27, with Ezra Blount being the youngest. Bharti Shahani, a 22-year-old university student, succumbed to her critical injuries a week after the concert, as reported by ABC 13 Houston. She had been placed on a ventilator for six days. John Hilgert, a 14-year-old, also lost his life. He was a freshman and a baseball player at a high school in Houston.

16-year-old Brianna Rodriguez was another high school student to lose her life. She was known for her love of dance and was a member of her school's band. Jacob Jurinek, 20, was studying art and media at Southern Illinois University when he died, alongside 21-year-old Franco Patiño, who was enrolled at the University of Dayton in Ohio, where he studied biomedical engineering.

Axel Acosta, 21, was a student of computer science at Western Washington University. He was at the concert alone. He was initially thought to be a survivor, but family members identified a photo of one of the victims to be him. His family was among those who sued Travis Scott and Astroworld's organisers.

The list also includes Rudy Peña, who studied criminal justice in Texas while working as a medical assistant in a rehabilitation clinic, and 23-year-old Madison Dubiski, a University of Mississippi alum, who reportedly worked at an advertising agency.

Finally, Danish Baig, 27, lost his life. He was a district manager for AT&T and had been married for less than a month. BBC has reported that he died while trying to protect his new wife at Astroworld.

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The chaos and the aftermath of the Astroworld tragedy explored:

The first episode of Netflix's documentary anthology Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy debuted on June 10, and it focused on the experiences of several survivors and the aftermath for them. One of Brianna Rodriguez's friends, who was with her at the concert, recalled feeling "a certain fear" during the show.

"One of those waves just hit both me and Bri. We all fell to our backs. I could hear her in pain. You know, asking 'help me get out' and stuff like that. I was the second layer. There was people under me and then me falling on my back and then people stacking on top of me."

He continued,

"I felt like the more I kept fighting it, the more I was wasting energy. Like if you're holding your breath underwater. I could feel the oxygen just leaving my body."

He doesn't remember how long he had fallen down, "but it felt like forever".

"I saw someone's face. They looked at me. He pulled me out. I just remember feeling so many different things. Where's Mikaela? Did Bri get out?"

Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy also documents exclusive interviews with the paramedics and those who worked at the festival. One concertgoer, Kaia Redus, called the festival a "carefree world". Sophia Santana, another survivor, said of what she thought it would be:

“It was a concert you didn’t want to miss, and you knew it was going to be fun."

Crowd safety expert Scott Davidson was also featured on the documentary, and he shared a transcript from the night of the Astroworld incident, in which a manager of the event warned an audio engineer about the intensity of the situation.

The transcript reads:

"We have four active CPRs going on. Two are most likely dead. It is very very bad. There are more crush victims than I have ever seen in my 25-year career. We have to have a discussion in his [Travis'] ears letting him know what's going on. We need to shut this thing down in eight minutes at 10 o'clock."

Instead of coming to a grinding halt, the show went on, with Scott even bringing Drake out as a surprise guest. Davidson conceded that he doesn't "know what was actually said to Travis after that [the warning]," but he was plagued by the idea of continuing the show amid the chaos.

"The idea of a performance continuing while even one CPR in progress is underway is insane. Unprecedented. Not to mention, multiple [CPRs]. Of all the things that trouble me about this case, that's one thing I can't get past. How could they make that decision?"

Astroworld founder Travis Scott does not make an appearance in the documentary, though he did issue a statement acknowledging the incident on social media on November 6:

"I just want to send out prayers to the ones that were lost last night. We're actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time. My fans mean the world to me and I always just really want to leave them with a positive experience. Anytime I can make out anything that is going on, I stop the show and help them get the help they need."

In an interview in December 2021 with Charlamagne tha God, Scott reiterated that he was unaware of the ongoing crowd crushing during his performance.

The film is directed by Yemi Bamiro and is an amalgamation of interviews from concertgoers and experts, paired with concert footage from phones, to analyse and explicate the tragedy that took place at Astroworld in 2021. In addition to the ten casualties, over 5000 people were left injured, and 25 were hospitalized.

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