CRUSH TRAGEDY : RAPPER Travis Scott says he'll cover the funeral costs of the eight victims who died in the violent crowds of his Astroworld concert - following a slew of lawsuits from surviving victims.

A number of injury lawyers, including famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump, are claiming that festival organizers failed to provide adequate security measures to prevent the stampedes that injured hundreds of concertgoers.

On Monday, 11 more lawsuits were issued against Scott, Drake, and Astroworld festival organizers Live Nation for gross negligance.

Civil rights attorney Crump on Tuesday announced he will file a lawsuit on behalf of the father a nine-year-old boy who was catastrophically injured at the festival.

The lawsuit names Scoremore Mgmt, Live Nation Entertainment, Travis Scott, Cactus Jack Records, and others as defendants. It alleges alleges negligence in areas including crowd control and medical attention.

Crump said: "This young child and his family will face life-altering trauma from this day forward, a reality that nobody expects when they buy concert tickets.

"Concerts and music festivals such as this are meant to be a safe place for people of all ages to enjoy music in a controlled environment.

"None of that was true about the Astroworld Festival. This little boy is currently fighting for his life, and his parents will never know the same child they entered Astroworld with."

The 30-year-old rapper announced he'll cover the funeral costs of those who tragically lost their lives at the Houston, Texas event, as well as team up with BetterHelp to supply free one-on-one online therapy to others who attended.

Scott, whose real name is Jacques Bermon Webster II, will also refund the cost of all tickets.

But attendees and their lawyers, including Crump – who is representing Noah Gutierrez, 21 – said that the tragedy was "years in the making", given the injury record at Scott's previous performances.

Three fans were hospitalised following the same event in 2019.

The lawsuits also allege that Scott kept singing for more than 30 minutes despite numerous deaths, injuries and screams from fans for the show to stop.

"We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced, the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying to save them," Crump said in a statement.

The lawyer set up a designated website for anyone else traumatized by the experience to reach out for legal assistance, which could be found at astroworldclaimshelp.com.

"We will be pursuing justice for all our clients who were harmed in this tragic and preventable event," he added.

Amid the lawsuits, Crump shared a video from TikTok showing crowds at the gig chanting "stop the show", and another of a woman climbing a stage ladder and screaming to a stage hand that people were dying in the crowd.

Meanwhile, more than 15,000 people have signed a petition attempting to block the rapper from performing as a headliners at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in California next April.

The Change.org petition- directed at Coachella organizers AEG, Paul Tollet and Goldenvoice - cites the Astroworld tragedy and Scott's alleged negligence as reason to remove him from the concert line-up.

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https://www.the-sun.com/news/us-news/4029549/travis-scott-will-pay-for-astroworld-victims-funerals/amp/