Travis Scott is speaking out in the wake of the tragedy at Astroworld.
For the first time since at least eight people died and hundreds were injured during the festival in Houston on Friday night, the rapper released an on-camera statement via his Instagram Stories.
“I just want to send out prayers to the ones that was lost last night,” a distraught Scott said as he rubbed his face. “We’re actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time. My fans really mean the world to me and I always just want to leave them with a positive experience.”
Scott was criticized by some concertgoers for not responding as people were being given CPR and carried away. One video from the live stream shows Scott pausing his performance and looking on as an ambulance pulled into the crowd.
However, he says he was unaware of the severity of the situation. “Any time I could make out, you know, anything that’s going on, you know, I just stop my show and, you know, helped them get the help they need. I could just never imagine the severity of the situation.”
He said that he’s been “working closely with everyone to just try to get to the bottom of this,” including the city of Houston and the Houston Police Department.
“I’m honestly just devastated,” added Scott. “I could never imagine anything like this happening.”
Kylie Jenner, who was in attendance with the couple’s 3-year-old daughter Stormi, also shared a statement on Instagram.
“Travis and I are broken and devastated. My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their lives, were injured or affected in anyway by yesterday’s events,” she wrote. “And also for Travis who I know cares deeply for his fans and the Houston community.”
She responded to the criticism that Travis stayed on stage and performed despite the tragedy unfolding. “I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show and in no world would have continued filming or performing,” she continued. “I am sending my deepest condolences to all the families during this difficult time and will be praying for the healing of everyone who has been impacted.”
Authorities are investigating whether someone may have injected fans with some sort of drug that could have triggered cardiac arrest.
During a press conference, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that a security officer working the event “felt a prick in his neck” by an unknown assailant while he was trying to restrain a citizen. He fell unconscious and was revived using Narcan.
Other deaths and injuries may have been as a result of people being trampled. According to TMZ, one of the eight dead is a 14-year-old, who was reportedly crushed in the stampede.
The festival is being criticized for not stopping the concert despite the mass casualty. One video shows concertgoers climbing on the camera rig and telling a camera operator that someone was dying in the crowd.
Roddy Ricch, who performed at the festival on Friday, has announced that he will be donating the net proceeds from his Astroworld set to the victims’ families.
“Please have the families of those who we lost yesterday reach out to @shawnholiday,” said “The Box” rapper, while directing them to his management team. “I’ll b donating my net compensation to the families of this incident #Pray4Houston.”