Congress to Launch Bipartisan Investigation Into Astroworld Tragedy

The investigations into the Astroworld tragedy that occurred at Houston’s NRG Park on November 5 will now be getting an extra assist from the federal government.

Complex reports that on Wednesday, the United States Congress launched a bipartisan investigation that will look into what happened at the popular festival founded by rapper and Houston native Travis Scott and specifically examine the role the one of the promoters—namely Live Nation—played in the tragic event.

In a letter published by the House Oversight and Reform Committee to Live Nation’s President and CEO Michael Rapino, they’re requesting “information regarding the tragic events on November 5, 2021, when a stampede crushed concertgoers, killing ten people and injuring hundreds more during [the] Astroworld Music Festival.” The committee also cited recent reports that raise “serious concerns” about whether the promoter “took adequate steps to ensure the safety of the 50,000 concertgoers who attended Astroworld Festival.”

The committee also raised the fact that Live Nation has been “fined or sued over safety issues at previous events” over the years as further reason why they’re now taking part in the investigation.

Overall, the committee is requiring Live Nation to provide information regarding “the roles and responsibilities for Astroworld Festival, security planning for the event, and the steps Live Nation Entertainment took after being made aware that law enforcement had declared the event a ‘mass casualty event.’” Live Nation has until Jan. 7 to supply Congress with the materials they’ve requested before any further action takes place.

A joint statement from all five committee members expressed: “We are deeply saddened by the deaths that occurred at Astroworld Festival and are committed to investigating what went wrong to inform possible reforms that could prevent future tragedies.”

To read the letter from the committee in full, visit oversight.house.gov.