Crowds surging forward as rapper Travis Scott took to the stage at the Astroworld Festival in Houston led to chaos and crushed bodies, people who escaped the tragedy on Friday night said.
At least eight people died and scores were injured during the first day of a weekend event that attracted tens of thousands of revellers.
Police have opened a criminal investigation. About 300 people were treated for injuries, including 11 taken to hospitals suffering from cardiac arrest.
Witnesses said fans were crushed and trampled at times during the day, before the main act took the stage.
The crowd was already on edge and throwing water bottles when faced with choke points at a Covid test centre and merchandise sales areas, festivalgoers told news agency Reuters.
It felt like a riot. There were people throwing out stuff, objects flying everywhere
Astroworld Festival attendee
There was "chaos" throughout the day as crowds overwhelmed the facilities and security on site, said Anthony Mendiola, 22, from San Antonio, Texas. While police and security teams were present throughout the park, "there just wasn't enough," he said.
There were 528 Houston police and 755 private security members hired by festival organiser Live Nation working at the event, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a briefing on Saturday.
“It felt like a riot. There were people throwing out stuff, objects flying everywhere,” said Albert Merza, 43, a supermarket manager, who saw fans attempting to jump fences to get inside and a "lot of crazy behaviour."
Countdown clock to Travis Scott performance causes crowd surge
A countdown clock that signalled headliner Travis Scott was to perform that night pulled scores towards the main stage, crushing fans at the front, said Jonathan De Leon, who moved away as fans up front were pushed from behind, some falling to the ground.
Job Ramos, 21, from Kennewick, Washington, had also attended last month's Rolling Loud festival in New York, which billed itself as the world's largest rap festival. Houston's had more people, he said, and the mosh pits where fans dance and jump were frightening enough to keep the regular concertgoer away.
Pablo Longoria, 19, a college student from Houston, said the crowd erupted when rap superstar Drake appeared unexpectedly on stage with Travis Scott.
"All of a sudden it was like there was 13 mosh pits," said Mr Longoria.
He recalled people falling into piles, including one woman who fell to the ground and was covered by three others who toppled after her.
"It's not easy getting out of those mosh pits," said Mr Ramos.
"When you're in a mosh pit, you feel like you can't get oxygen. All you are breathing is CO2."
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Results:
Women:
1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70
Men:
1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
LAST 16
SEEDS
Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Valencia, Juventus
PLUS
Real Madrid, Tottenham, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Lyon, Chelsea
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
