More than 300 plaintiffs have reportedly settled personal injury lawsuits with Live Nation and Travis Scott after the 2021 disaster at the Astroworld music festival.

Ten people died and hundreds more were injured during the fatal crowd crush at the 5 November 2021 festival at NRG Park in Houston, US. In June last year, a Texas grand jury declined to indict rapper and festival founder Travis Scott, nor anyone else associated with the festival.

The civil trial over injuries suffered at the festival was due to start this week but has now been delayed until February 2025 after settlements were reached, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Now, a host of lawyers will designate another round of so-called bellwether plaintiffs to test the strength of the remaining cases.

The result of the first trial could determine how much other victims receive in future trials or settlements.

The result of the first trial could determine how much other victims receive in future trials or settlements

Scott West, who represented 9-year-old Ezra Blount, Astroworld’s youngest casualty in the wrongful deaths suits, said hundreds of cases remain.

The bulk of the cases were settled with an undisclosed lump sum Friday and earlier this month, with West saying that amounts weren’t addressed in court.

The remaining plaintiff lawyers will decide which suits will be set for trial in February.

In a recent ruling, Judge Kristen Hawkins instructed that Live Nation chief Michael Rapino could have to give evidence in person, due to having “information [that] is not available through other sources”.

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At least 29 people were killed, and several more injured by a fire at a nightclub in Istanbul on Wednesday (3 April).

The daytime inferno happened as workers were in the basement of the Masquerade club, which had been undergoing renovations.

Authorities stated that the victims of the blaze were all thought to have been involved in the renovation project, which was taking place during Ramadan ahead of the club’s scheduled reopening at the Eid holiday, next week.

Situated on the ground floor and basement levels of a high-rise building in the residential Gayrettepe district of Istanbul, the venue is apparently being treated as a crime scene, with Istanbul governor Davut Gül noting that the cause of the mid-day fire was yet to be determined.

However, police issued warrants for the arrest of eight people, including the nightclub manager and a person responsible for the renovations, as part of their investigations. At press time, six people had reportedly been arrested, while warrants are outstanding for others.

Turkish television showed flames and a columns of smoke billowing from upper floor windows as the fire spread up the 16-storey building

Emergency services were alerted to the inferno at 12:47 pm and firefighters faced the grim task of finding bodies and rescuing severely injured victims as they battled for several hours to bring the blaze under control. Throughout the afternoon, the governor’s office was forced to increase the death toll in ever more shocking updates as more victims succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Images from Turkish television showed flames and columns of smoke billowing from upper floor windows as the fire spread up the 16-storey building, but it is believed all the deaths had been individuals who were in the club premises.

As investigations began, Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, revealed that the club’s operators had not applied for the correct construction permit. “There is no application [to the local municipality] for a renovation or a construction regarding the place and as it was two floors down from the ground level, it [the work] wasn’t visible,” he said.

On a later post on X, formerly Twitter, Imamoglu added, “May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives, and I wish a speedy recovery to our injured.”

The venue could apparently host up to 4,000 people for DJ performances and stage shows

The Masquerade website notes that the club would be closed from 10 March to 10 April for “our new design renovation”. The venue could apparently host up to 4,000 people for DJ performances and stage shows, according to local reports.

The tragedy evokes memories of similar venue tragedies in the likes of Brazil, Romania, and the United States over the past decade. In January 2013, 242 people – mostly university students – died, and more than 600 others were injured when acoustic foam in the ceiling of the Kiss nightclub in the southern Brazilian city of  Santa Maria.

In December 2016, 36 people died when fire broke out in the unlicensed Ghost Ship venue in Oakland, California, while in 2003, a fire at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island claimed 100 lives, and injured 230 others, with investigators again pointing to pyrotechnics setting light to the venue’s acoustic foam.

And in 2015, 64 revellers lost their lives when pyrotechnics caused a devastating blaze at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest.

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A promoter has been charged after 10 people – mostly children – died in a stampede at a New Year’s concert in Uganda, East Africa.

Abbey Musinguzi, aka Abitex, faces nine counts of rash or negligent acts causing death following alleged “defects in the planning and control of the concert”, held at Freedom City mall in Namasuba.

A crush occurred just after midnight on Sunday (1 January) as concert-goers rushed from the venue through a narrow corridor to watch a fireworks display in the car park to welcome in 2023. Uganda Police Force say the corridor was the only exit/entry point as security guards had locked all the other gates to stop people entering without tickets.

“As a result. several victims were trapped, others trampled upon through the narrow passage way which became a real bottleneck,” says police spokesman Fred Enanga.

Around 400 people were attending the event, with the victims aged between 10 and 30.

“This is a terrible tragedy and our deepest sympathies go to the families of the deceased persons”

“This is a terrible tragedy and our deepest sympathies go to the families of the deceased persons,” adds Enanga.

Police are continuing to investigate the tragedy and have issued further summons for other people involved in the organisation of the concert, which featured various artists.

“We have now summoned for questioning; the proprietor of the venue, the managers, other organisers of the event, the masters of ceremony, ushers, bouncers and private security guards who were dedicated to the event,” says Enanga. “Also summoned are police officers and other security personnel who were deployed to secure the event.

“At a later stage, we shall listen to the parents to some of the children to establish how they separated from them and got trapped in the passageway and gates. Additionally, we are going to share a comprehensive list of guidelines on various aspects of planning and managing events, in partnership with the police, in order to avoid a repeat of such tragic incidents.”

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K-pop concerts and other large gatherings were cancelled across South Korea following the crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul that killed at least 154 people.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the tragedy, which unfolded in the Korean capital on Saturday night (29 October) when a crowd surged in an alleyway during the first mask-free Halloween event since the pandemic.

President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared a period of national mourning to run until 5 November and designated the Itaewon district a disaster zone.

Reuters reports a major K-pop concert called Busan One Asia Festival, which was scheduled for yesterday and was expected to attract around 40,000 people, was cancelled, while the Korea Music Content Association postponed its MWM (Moving the World with Music) Festival, set for Busan this Thursday and Friday.

“Considering the severity of the national mourning period, we as an association will halt all events and television broadcasts”

SM Entertainment’s Halloween party SMTown Wonderland 2022, electronic dance music festival Strike Music Festival and the Peakbox 22-03 concert were also called off.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, singers Jang Yoon-jeong and Youngtak also both pulled shows, but K-pop acts Ateez and Dreamcatcher held concerts on Sunday as planned, preceded by a moment of silence, after being unable to reschedule. A number of K-pop groups due to release new music this week have announced they are postponing their releases.

“Considering the severity of the national mourning period, we as an association will halt all events and television broadcasts and will do our best to console the victims’ families,” adds Korea Singers Association president Lee Ja-yeon.

The BBC cites Korean media reports that BTS’ concert at Busan Asiad Main Stadium two weeks earlier, attended by 55,000 fans, was managed by 2,700 security officers, compared to only 137 for the Seoul festivities. The BTS’ show was switched from its original venue due to safety concerns.

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