Astroworld Victim Bharti Shahani Dies, As Group Claims Fire Chief Was Denied Venue Access Twice
HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM/CNN) — A ninth victim of the Astroworld Music Festival crowd surge in Houston has died. Texas A&M University student Bharti Shahani had fought for life since the catastrophe at the show last Friday.
Relatives say the 22-year-old went to the Travis Scott headlined concert with her cousin and her younger sister. Shahani suffered several injuries and spent her last days on a ventilator in critical condition.
Shahani's death leaves one other Astroworld victim hospitalized. Dallas 9-year-old Ezra Blount continues fighting for his life at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
Ezra traveled from North Texas to the concert in Houston with his dad, Treston Blount. The grandfather of the little boy, Bernon Blount, said his son was carrying Ezra on his shoulders when he was crushed by the crowd and passed out, sending the little boy tumbling to the ground. The 9-year-old was trampled and according to relatives has damage to his organs, swelling on his brain and at some point went into cardiac arrest.
Ezra was placed in a medically induced coma to lessen the stress on his body and hopefully help heal the trauma to his brain.
Meanwhile, the president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighter Association is claiming that the district fire chief whose station was closest to NRG Park stopped by the Astroworld venue the morning of November 5 but was denied access twice.
According to Patrick "Marty" Lancton, the district fire chief of Station 21 stopped by to walk through the venue to get a lay of the land ahead of Friday night's concert, something he said is "normal."
"As with any big, large-scale event he took a ride over and said 'hey, let's check everything out,'" Lancton said. "In the city of Houston, a district fire chief is usually over three or four stations. When a response is required in his area, he is the first to respond. He would be the one taking command if something happened and determine what resources are needed."
According to Lancton, the district fire chief was denied access first by security. He requested to speak with the head of security who also denied the district chief access. Lancton said the district fire chief was given a map of the venue instead.
Contemporary Services Corporation has been contacted for comment, but has not responded.
Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña backed up the claims that the district chief was not let in.
But Peña went a step further, saying he'd like to see his teams be a part of the planning before the day of the event.
"I do need to have my people there in the planning, in the contingency planning," Peña said. "It's important for us to have a comprehensive plan that everyone understands."
Lancton said that the district fire chief was among some of the first Houston Fire Department personnel on the scene after four firefighters stationed inside the Orange Parking Lot became increasingly worried about the situation unfolding inside the venue
The lack of professional emergency personnel at Astroworld was "absolutely a problem," Lancton said.
"What that really means is that whoever put the event on hired a third party medical company ... to handle any emergencies that are happening on the inside," Lancton said.
The Houston Fire Department "had no command and controlled presence on this inside of the venue," but were nearby "in a support role," he added.
Lancton said the firefighters on-scene asked the hired emergency personnel if they had radios and were given a list of cell phone numbers. He said the fact the logistical emergency strategy relied on cell phones, not radios, was problematic because "seconds matter, communication matters."
"I don't know that cell phones are very reliable when you have fifty or sixty thousand people, especially when you have people that are dying," he said.
He said firefighters were primarily monitoring Houston Police Department radio traffic and noticed a growing tension from authorities on the ground. After not hearing any response over the radio to stated medical emergencies, the HFD personnel on standby chose to self-initiate a response.
"They took it upon themselves, when they started to hear radio traffic, and self-initiated a Houston Fire Department response and upgraded it to a mass casualty incident," he said.
Travis Scott's attorney, Attorney Edwin F. McPherson, released a statement Wednesday night blasting Houston city officials over the "finger-pointing," "inconsistent messages," and backtracking of statements.
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