Two security guards who worked at Travis Scott‘s Astroworld festival earlier this month have filed a lawsuit claiming they sustained injuries during the “mass casualty” crowd crush incident which claimed the lives of 10 people and left hundreds injured.
As Rolling Stone reports, Samuel and Jackson Bush were hired by security company AJ Melino & Associates to work the festival at Houston’s NRG Park on November 5. The uncle and nephew say that while attempting to help concertgoers as the crowd began to surge during Scott’s headline set, Samuel was trampled multiple times, broke his band and injured his back, while Jackson’s shoulder was injured.
28 people and corporations have been named in the Bushes’ suit, including Scott, his label Cactus Jack, festival organisers Live Nation and ScoreMore, NRG Park and AJ Melino & Associates.
According to the Bushes, AJ Melino & Associates failed to adequately prepare those it contracted to work security at the festival. They allege there were no background checks carried out for those employed, no training was provided, and little instruction was given prior to guards beginning their shifts.
“For the most part, they told us where to stand, not to let people run in, and to be safe and not to put our hands on anybody,” Jackson Bush commented during a press conference.
The Bushes’ lawsuit is one of many that have been filed in recent weeks against Scott, Live Nation and others involved with the festival by attendees who say they suffered injuries and trauma as a result of negligence by organisers.
Last week, attorney Thomas J. Henry filed a $2billion lawsuit over the incident on behalf of 282 people who hired him for legal representation, naming Scott, Live Nation, Drake (who appeared onstage during Scott’s set) and more as defendants.
“Those who were injured are still very traumatized because they had to step over dead bodies. They didn’t have a choice because there was nowhere to move. These people were trapped… They couldn’t breathe. They couldn’t get out,” Henry commented in a statement.
“My clients want to ensure the defendants are held responsible for their actions, and they want to send the message to all performers, event organizers, and promoters that what happened at Astroworld cannot happen again.”
The number of lawsuits against Scott, Live Nation and other defendants related to the incident continues to soar. Henry’s filing came just one day after another substantial suit was filed by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, seeking $750million on behalf of 125 clients.
The latest fatality related to the festival was nine-year-old Ezra Blount, who died in hospital from his injuries on November 14. Blount had been placed in a medically-induced coma, following critical injury to major internal organs, including his heart, brain, kidney and liver.
The CEO of ParaDocs, the medical company hired by Astroworld, has also spoken out on the crowd surge tragedy, saying that his staff faced an “impossible feat” of treating 11 people with cardiac arrests at the same time.
“This is something I’ll have nightmares about for the rest of my life,” Alex Pollak said. “The team is extremely broken up about it.
“Seeing so many young people getting CPR at one time, it’s just something no one should have to go through. Even though we’re medical professionals, we should be used it. You can’t get used to something like that.”
The post Two Astroworld security guards file lawsuit against Travis Scott, security company and more appeared first on NME.
0 Commentaires