Texas A&M student becomes ninth person to die in Astroworld tragedy, attorney says
A 22-year-old college student has died nearly one week after she was critically injured at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, marking the ninth person killed in the tragedy, her family's attorney announced Thursday. Bharti Shahani was a student at Texas A&M University where she studied computer science.
Bharti died at an intensive care unit surrounded by her family around 7 p.m. Wednesday night, her father said at a news conference Thursday. She has two sisters, one of whom was at the festival with her.
"Now, I am worried about my two daughters and my wife," her father said. "What will be the impact on them after we lost our precious angel?"
Her mother, Karishma, said, "Bharti is love - I won't be able to live without her. It's impossible."
Namrata, her younger sister who was at the festival, said she was holding her sister's hand before they got separated in the crowd surge. The last thing Bharti said to her was, "Are you OK?" Namrata said her sister was like a second mother to her.
"It feels like she meant everything to me," Namrata said. "We were always together, always doing things together."
Also with the two sisters at NRG Park was their cousin Mohit Bellani. He said he was the first to arrive at the hospital where Bharti had been taken Friday night, and staff told him his cousin had suffered two heart attacks and was intubated.
"I don't want anyone to ever forget what happened that night, and what happened to Bahrti," Mohit said.
Bharti also had a dog, Blue, who the family says is at a loss without her. The family said no one from the event has reached out to them in the past week.
On Thursday, rapper Travis Scott, who found the Astroworld Festival three years ago and was performing Friday night during the crowd surge, put out a statement, asking families affected by the tragedy to contact his team.
"Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons," his team said in a statement.
"He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family's wishes on how they'd best like to be connected."
Nine people, including two teenagers, were killed and scores more were injured during a crowd surge at the festival last Friday. The exact cause of death for the other eight victims has not yet been determined, Houston police chief Troy Finner said on Wednesday. A 9-year-old boy remains in critical condition.
The Houston Police Department and the FBI are investigating the incident, which Finner estimated on Wednesday could take weeks or months to complete. Investigators are working to review video footage and interview victims as well as witnesses. Finner said he does not believe an independent investigation is necessary at this point.
