Astroworld Festival victims were teens, college students and at least one aspiring model
Written by ABC AUDIO on November 8, 2021
HOUSTON – Rodolfo Angel Peña, 23, was an aspiring mannequin and psychology pupil from Laredo, Texas, who dreamed of in the future turning into a U.S. Border Patrol agent or seeing the place his attraction and beauty would take him.
On Friday, he and a few associates drove the 5 hours from Laredo to Houston to blow off steam on the Travis Scott present on the Astroworld music competition. By Saturday afternoon, his household was making funeral preparations for him.
Peña was one in all eight individuals who died Friday night time when hundreds of concertgoers rushed to the stage to see Scott, overwhelming safety and making a chaotic nightmare.
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His older brother, Guadalupe Peña, stated authorities advised the household solely that his brother died of cardiac arrest whereas on the present.
“He’s an actual sturdy individual,” he advised USA TODAY. “I do know he would have gotten out of it. It appears actual sketchy the way it occurred.”
Twenty-five folks had been transported to the hospital, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner stated Saturday, and 13 are nonetheless hospitalized. A 10-year-old is in vital situation, officers stated. There have been scores of different accidents. Not less than 11, like Peña, suffered cardiac arrest.
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The victims who died ranged in age from 14 to 27, Turner stated. One individual’s age was unknown. Turner didn’t determine those that had been killed within the incident and stated relations of six of the eight victims have been notified. Autopsies can be carried out earlier than the victims are launched to their households, Harris County Decide Lina Hidalgo stated.
John Hilgert, 14, the youngest casualty of the Friday stampede, was a ninth grade pupil at Memorial Excessive College in Northwest Houston, in accordance with a letter despatched out by college directors to folks.
“Our hearts exit to the scholar’s household and to his associates and our employees at Memorial,” Spring Department ISD stated in an announcement. “This can be a horrible loss, and your complete MHS household is grieving immediately.”
A 16-year-old junior at Heights Excessive College in Houston, Brianna Rodriguez, was additionally killed, in accordance with KTRK-TV in Houston. “Dancing was her ardour,” stated a GoFundMe submit in Rodriguez’s honor. “Now she’s dancing her solution to heaven’s pearly gates.”
A Dallas-area man, 27-year-old Danish Baig, died making an attempt to save lots of his fiancee from the crush of the group, in accordance with information retailers whose reporters spoke along with his brother. His funeral was scheduled for Sunday, his brother stated.
In a Fb submit, Basil Mirza Baig stated the occasion was “horribly managed” and put a number of the blame on Scott, whom he stated “provoked these folks.”
“He referred to as folks to the stage to leap into the group and didn’t cease the present,” Baig stated. “I used to be there and that i wasnt capable of save my brother.”
Danish Baig, his brother stated within the submit, all the time put others earlier than himself and confirmed braveness in making an attempt to save lots of his fiancee. She is bruised and traumatized, he advised CNN.
Franco Patino, 21, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering expertise with a minor in human motion biomechanics on the College of Dayton in Ohio, additionally died within the melee, in accordance with an announcement by the college.
“A member of Alpha Psi Lambda, a Hispanic curiosity fraternity, Franco was lively within the Greek and (multiethnic) communities on campus,” the assertion learn. “He was additionally a member of the Society of Hispanic Skilled Engineers at UD, lively within the ETHOS (service-learning) program, and was at the moment working in an engineering coop program in Mason, Ohio.”
One other school pupil, Axel Acosta, died after touring alone from Washington state to see the live performance, his father advised KTRK. Acosta’s physique was recovered with out identification, and authorities had launched an image of him, which his household used to determine him. Acosta, 21, was learning pc science at Western Washington College.
Guadalupe Peña stated the toughest half is just not figuring out all the main points of what precisely occurred to his brother on Friday night time. He shared particulars of his brother’s life within the foyer of a Houston lodge Saturday, as his mom paced close by, wailing often.
“The one who’s struggling essentially the most is his mother,” he stated.
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The youngest of 5 siblings, Rodolfo Angel Peña had been a star broad receiver at Nixon Excessive College in Laredo and was in his final 12 months at Laredo Faculty, his brother stated. He was taking psychology programs, hoping to attain a well-paying job with Border Patrol or with U.S. Customs and Border Safety. He additionally labored as a chiropractic therapist.
He was well-known and beloved all through Laredo, stated Eduardo Peña, his different brother. “Everybody knew him,” he stated.
Rodolfo Angel Peña liked dancing and was into vogue, Guadalupe Peña stated. And he liked music. He attended the final Astroworld Pageant in 2019, however this was his first Travis Scott live performance, he stated.
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The household was planning a funeral for him in Laredo. They nonetheless have numerous questions on how his brother died, Guadalupe Peña stated.
“He got here up yesterday for the live performance,” he stated. “Subsequent factor we all know, he is gone.”
Observe Jervis on Twitter: @MrRJervis.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Astroworld deaths: Brianna Rodriguez, 16, one in all eight victims
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