A new task force will look into how to improve safety at large events following last year’s major incident at Astroworld music festival, in Houston, Texas.
The plans for a task force were revealed last year following the November event, where 10 people died after a fatal crowd crush.
Eight people died on the scene while rappers Travis Scott and Drake were performing, with a further two dying in hospital in the subsequent days.
Over 400 lawsuits have been filed since, many against promoters Live Nation and Scott, as some 300 people were injured and treated at the festival, and 25 were taken to local hospitals.
In January, the Texas Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which is overseen by the Texas Supreme Court, agreed that the lawsuits can all be handled by one judge, who has not yet been chosen.
The task force is set to meet monthly and review potential safety upgrades, ways of improving communication between different agencies, and to make recommendations to ensure consistent operational standards at any future events.
Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia told Billboard: “I want this task force to resolve concerns of parents throughout our region, that if they’re coming to an event, whether inside the county or inside the city, that they know that there has been a great deal of thought put into the safety and well-being of all attendees at these respective events.”
Image: Frank Schwichtenberg/(CC BY-SA 4.0)/Edited for size