The cause of death of the 10 people who died at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival has been determined.
According to documents obtained by ET from the medical examiner, all 10 victims died from "compression asphyxia," with one of them also having the cause of death be from "combined toxic effects of cocaine, methamphetamine and ethanol." The manner is all ruled an accident.
Compression asphyxia is when "the respiration is prevented by external pressure on the body. It is usually due to external force compressing the trunk due to heavy weight over chest/abdomen and is associated with internal injuries," per the National Library of Medicine.
Lawyers for victim Axel Acosta released a statement after the cause of death was confirmed.
"Today Harris County released the cause of death of Axel Acosta, one of the ten victims who died at the Astroworld concert. Axel’s cause of death is listed as 'compression asphyxia.' The report confirms what the family already knew, which is that Axel was crushed and killed that night by the crowd, through no fault of his own," the statement reads. "It is also important to note that Axel’s blood contained absolutely no intoxicants or other like substances. Now that we have received the official results, I want to say to our police chief: Shame on you. Shame on you for perpetuating and giving credence to a silly rumor that people were being injected at the concert."
"In doing so, you added more pain to an already unbearably painful situation for Axel’s family. Axel Acosta’s family looks forward now to presenting their case in court, in front of a jury, in the hopes that all those accountable are held legally responsible, and that a preventable tragedy like this never happens again," the statement concludes.
Astroworld festival took place on Nov. 5 in Houston, Texas, with Houston Fire Department Chief Sam Pena telling reporters at a press conference the following day that 300 concertgoers were treated at a field hospital set up at the festival, which was held at Houston's NRG Park and had around 50,000 in attendance.
Multiple lawsuits have since been filed against the performer and others involved in the festival.
Last week, Scott publicly spoke out for the first time since the fatal incident occurred, claiming he was not aware that any of his fans were injured while he was performing.
"It wasn't until minutes before the press conference that I figured out exactly what happened," Scott told Charlamagne tha God. "Even after the show, you're just kind of hearing things, but I didn't know the exact details until minutes before the press conference. And even at that moment you’re like, 'Wait, what?'"
The rapper also denied hearing any signs of distress from the crowd while he was playing, expressing, "Anytime you can hear something like that, you want to stop the show. You want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need. Anytime I could see anything like that, I did. I stopped it a couple times to just make sure everybody was OK. And I really just go off the fans' energy as a collective call and response. I just didn’t hear that."
For more on the tragedy, see below.
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