HEADING out to Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert with a group of pals, excited fan Ayden Cruz was looking forward to the night of his life.

Instead, he became caught in a nightmarish crowd surge that took the life of his dear friend Brianna Rodriguez, along with nine others, including a nine-year-old child.

The event, initially eagerly awaited post-pandemic in November 2021, rapidly devolved into one of the most tragic concert calamities in the US, leaving many desperately clinging to life.

When the rapper appeared on stage, the overcrowded audience at Houston’s NRG Park surged ahead, causing a crush that trapped numerous attendees.

Fans say their screams for help fell on deaf ears as Scott continued performing amid the chaos.

In the aftermath of Astroworld, the heartbroken families of the victims – the youngest of whom was nine-year-old Ezra Blount – were left questioning how such a tragedy was allowed to occur.

In a new Netflix documentary, Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, Ayden and other survivors speak out about the harrowing ordeal that has left them traumatised four years on.

“Everyone was really hype. And everyone’s body moves forward. And then the wave comes back,” says Ayden, who was also with girlfriend Mikaela at the festival.

“That was like being stuffed into one little spot and just being squeezed. I started to feel a certain fear. That’s when I was like, ‘Hold on, this is not okay.’

“One of those waves just hit both me and Bri.  We all fell to our backs. I could hear her in pain asking, ‘Help me get out,’ and stuff like that. I was the second layer.

“There were people under me. And then me falling on my back, and then people stacking on top of me.”

As Ayden struggled to escape the mountain of bodies piled on top of him, he realised that the more he fought, the worse it became for him.

“I could feel the oxygen leaving my body. I don’t know how long I was under there, but it felt like forever. And then people moved off me. I saw someone’s face. They looked at me.

“He pulled me out, and I just remember feeling so many different things. Where’s Mikaela? Did Bri get out? I looked for Mikaela. I found her.

“I knew where I saw Bri. Anyone who was at the same level as me was not receiving oxygen. I just remember panicking in that moment.”

Ayden tried his best to stop the show so others could get help. In footage taken on the night, Ayden can be seen climbing a camera platform to get the attention of the crew.

I knew where I saw Bri. Anyone who was at the same level as me was not receiving oxygen. I just remember panicking in that moment.

Ayden Cruz

He told the workers: “Shut the f**k up! People are f**king dying. I’m trying to save somebody’s life. That’s somebody’s kid. I want to save them.” 

Ayden then frantically went searching for Brianna, believing there was a chance she was still struggling under the crowd. He was eventually told she had been taken to the hospital.

He emotionally recalls: “Right when we get there, her family just starts crying really loudly. We are thinking they are still trying. It’s not over yet. There’s still an opportunity for her to be saved.

“Until they come back and they [said], ‘We can’t do anything.’ Everyone just dropped to the floor. I just remember crying and feeling like this is the worst night of my life. I felt defeated.” 

‘Stole my heart’

Raul and his friends, including Rudy Pena, 27, could hardly contain their excitement as they made their way to the main stage to watch Travis’ set.

In the film, he explains: “That’s when it started getting pretty hectic. We lost each other.”

There was a clock counting down the minutes till Travis’ big performance. With each passing minute, the crowd surged forward to get a closer look at the rapper. 

When the situation got worse, Raul says he could hear Rudy behind him saying he couldn’t breathe. After assuring him to drink water and calm down, Raul thought all was well.

After the concert, Raul and his friends designated a meeting spot – but as all his mates gathered, one was missing.

He recalls: “Everybody started getting there slowly, but Rudy. That was so strange to me because the whole time I had thought he got out safely. But he’s the only one missing.

“That’s when I hit full panic.”

Their friend Manuel raced towards the emergency crews and ambulances without any sign of Rudy. He even started calling hospitals. One hospital said that Rudy was there.

Manuel says in the film: “There was no information due to us not being family. So that’s when I called Rudy’s mum.”

This was not a case of missing red flags. This was a case of ignoring blaring warning sirens.

Scott Davidson, crowd safety expert

Rudy’s mum, Maria Pena, rushed to Houston to check on her son but, on arrival at the hospital, she was given the devastating news that Rudy had died.

In the film, she tearfully says: “That’s when I just lost it. I was screaming ‘What am I gonna tell his siblings? What am I gonna tell his friends? What am I going to say to my heart, to my soul?

“They stole my heart. They stole a part of my heart. I couldn’t bear it. And I still can’t.”

‘I’m gonna die here’

As the crowd were frantically looking for an escape route, Sofia, who was celebrating getting her nursing certificate, was certain she would not make it out alive.

She says in the film: “The crowd was swaying, and I was swaying with the crowd because of how tight it was. I had no control over my body.

“And I just remember thinking, ‘Don’t fall down because you won’t make it back up. In the commotion, I lost my balance and fell on someone. And I just remember feeling pressure because people were falling on me.

“I remember looking up and just being like, ‘I’m gonna die here.’ And then someone saw my hand and they helped me up. Travis Scott was still playing the whole time. I was shaking.

“At this point, I was like, ‘I need to be out there helping people because I’m a registered nurse. There was this guy on the floor. I do my assessment on him. 

“He has a pulse, but it’s really faint. I grabbed his legs, and I just remember putting them up.” Sofia heroically tried several methods to revive him.

Eventually, his heart started beating normally, and he regained consciousness, to Sofia’s relief.

That stranger was Arturo, who also appears in the film.

He says: “I was practically being suffocated to death. What led up to me passing out was like a heart attack. The doctors had to really explain to me what had really happened.

“And I was like ‘Holy shit, she brought me back to life. She was there for me. God bless her.'”

Shocking failings

After the tragedy, Scott Davidson, a crowd safety expert, was hired by Live Nation, the entertainment giant in charge of the concert, to look into what happened.

He says in the doc: “I was in receipt of a treasure trove of evidence. This was not a case of missing red flags. This was a case of ignoring blaring warning sirens. I was shocked by what I found.”

He adds: “One thing that was different about Astroworld 2021 was that Travis had kept his own stage unused all day until his performance.

“This meant thousands of concertgoers moved to his stage at the same time. Compounding this dangerous situation was the fact that the concertgoers were approaching the stage from the side, pushing into a T-shaped barrier system.

“This was supposed to make the stage safer. But instead, its configuration created a trap on the left-hand side of the stage. And so the compression just built and built, where people could not escape.”

At 9:42pm, Travis stopped midway through a song after spotting a fan who had passed out. He said on stage: “Somebody help him. Somebody passed out right here. Hold on. Don’t touch him. Everybody just back up.”

He then called on security to offer assistance to the person. Travis stood motionless for a while, seemingly trying to figure out whether to carry on the show or pause.

He then proceeded to perform again, to the shock of many who knew what was happening.

Davidson adds: “Any key decision maker from police, fire, EMS, or Live Nation should have been able to very quickly initiate a show stop.

“But what made it confusing was that, according to the event operations plan, there were only two people from Live Nation who had the delegated authority to stop the show.”

According to cops, the managers in charge were nowhere to be found.

Eventually, a manager went backstage to speak to the audio engineer, demanding that the show be shut down in eight minutes. 

Bizarrely, that didn’t happen. In fact, Drake was invited on stage to join Travis. The decision was made by the police and Live Nation to give the concert more time.

The police and organisers’ response after the event was that they did not want to trigger crowd panic by stopping the show abruptly, despite the fact that people were dying.

Davidson says: “The idea of a performance continuing while even one CPR in progress is underway is insane. Unprecedented. Not to mention multiple. How could they make that decision?”

‘Too late’

After trawling through several hours of video evidence, emails, and text messages, Davidson firmly believes that the tragedy was not an accident.

He says: “It was an inevitability due to the lack of foresight and the abandonment of basic safety protocols.”

Davidson says that Live Nation sold 50,000 tickets when the viewing capacity of Travis Scott’s set was just 35,000.

This means that many thousands more people were planned than could safely view the performance.

Additionally, earlier in the day, thousands of people stormed security gates, making it impossible for authorities to determine who had a ticket.

Davidson believes this meant many more people were able to enter the venue.

The idea that of a performance continuing while even one CPR in progress is underway is insane. Unprecedented. Not to mention multiple. How could they make that decision?

Scott Davidson

He says: “They knew this was going to be an issue. Not only was Travis’ stage in danger of being over capacity.

“This poorly designed site led to people approaching the stage from the side and getting trapped in an area where they were crushed, unable to breathe. 

“All ten fatalities were caused by compression asphyxiation in this area.”

He also says that text messages showed that Live Nation was aware of the chaos as it unfolded, but failed to act before it was too late.

Davidson adds: “In all the failures of Astroworld, a common denominator is the failure to speak truth to power.

“There were many missed opportunities to speak up. Somebody to raise their hand up and say, ‘Time out. This doesn’t make sense. We’re gonna hurt somebody'”. 

After the second day of the festival was cancelled, Travis released an apology video, but critics slammed it, saying there was not enough responsibility taken.

He came under intense fire and lost several endorsement deals.

There were also petitions asking that he be removed from future festivals.

Later, in an interview with Charlamagne tha God, he denied ever hearing people begging for him to stop the show.

He also said there was never any communication to end the show while he was on stage. Many backed his explanation, saying the responsibility lay with the managers backstage, not the artist.

Over 500 of lawsuits were filed against Travis, Live Nation, and other parties involved in organising the event.

Hundreds of these lawsuits have now been settled, including those filed by families of nine of the ten victims who died. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.

Despite the civil settlements, a grand jury in Texas declined to file criminal charges against Travis or any other party involved in the festival.

In a statement, Live Nation denied they had oversold tickets saying: “The sellable capacity for the venue was set by SMG Global and approved by the Houston Fire Department (HFD) before tickets went on sale.

“The number of tickets sold and attendees on site did not exceed the approved capacity. HFD, SMG Global and the Houston Police Department (HPD) were aware of the event plans, which were developed in line with safety codes.

“The Festival Safety & Risk Director and HPD representatives agreed to and executed an early show stop.”

Travis has now launched Project HEAL, aimed at supporting community-based programs and enhancing safety measures at large-scale events.