Bharti Shahani was an Indian American who succumbed to injuries after she was declared brain dead after she suffered some major injuries at the crowd surge incident that happened at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in November 2021.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Bharti Shahani was born in the year 1999, (age 22 years; at the time of death) in Houston, Texas. Bharti Shahani, after completing her primary and secondary education, got herself enrolled at Texas A&M University to pursue an undergraduate course in electronic systems engineering technology, and she would have graduated the course by the next spring when she was declared brain dead after the Astroworld Festival crowd surge.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Bharti Shahani’s father Sunny Shahani is a businessman. Her mother is a homemaker. Bharti had a younger sister Namrata Shahani.
Astroworld Festival Crowd Surge
On the night of 5 November 2021, Bharti Shahani became one of the victims of the Astroworld Festival concertgoers surge incident that happened at NRG Park, Houston, Texas. Astroworld Festival is a music festival organised by American rapper Travis Scott every year and was scheduled for the 5th and 6th of November 2021. Scott and Drake’s combined stage performance during the show drove the audience to go crazy which later got converted into the crowd surge at the event when a crowd of 50,000 rushed to the stage. Reportedly, Bharti went to enjoy the music festival with her younger sister Namrata Shahani and cousin Mohit Bellani but they lost contact with each other when the over-excited crowd bursted towards the stage. A total of eight people were killed, 11 others went into cardiac arrest, and more than 300 people were injured in the chaos. Mohit Bellani narrated the incident to the media as,
Once one person fell, people started toppling like dominos. It was like a sinkhole. People were falling on top of each other. There were like layers of bodies on the ground, like two people thick. We were fighting to come up to the top and breathe to stay alive.”
During the incident, Bharti Shahani got buried under a heap of people and lost oxygen for several minutes, resulting in which her brain stem got swollen to almost 90%. She was immediately rushed to Houston Methodist Hospital by ambulance and was given CPR on the way there. According to the doctors at the Houston Methodist Hospital, she suffered multiple heart attacks while on her way to the hospital. Bharti, who had been admitted to the Houston Methodist Hospital since 5 November 2021, was declared brain dead on 10 November 2021 by a team of doctors. Her father, during a media interaction, revealed that the doctors had already informed him that the chances of her survival were almost negligible. Sunny Shahani said,
The doctors, they say the chances of survival are nothing, which I have not even spoken to my wife until now. We keep saying we’ll pray. I request all of Houston to pray for her. Maybe the prayers might work as a miracle for her.”
Post the Astroworld Festival Crowd Surge incident, Bharti Shahani’s younger sister Namrata Shahani has launched a website named GoFundMe for raising funds to help cover mounting expenses of Bharti’s treatment. She aims to collect a sum of more than $50,000 with her fundraising website.
‘GoFundMe’ the website raising fund for Bharti Shahani’s treatment
Houston city mayor Sylvester Turner at a press briefing revealed to have ordered a high-level investigation for the devastating incident. He said,
This is a very, very active investigation, and we will probably be at it for quite some time to determine what exactly happened. This is now a criminal investigation that’s going to involve our homicide division, as well as narcotics, and we’re going to get down to the bottom of it.”
Houston Police Chief, Troy Finner, claimed to have a conversation with Travis Scott expressing concerns about the massive crowd prior to the concert. Troy in his official statement said that,
I expressed my concerns regarding public safety and that in my 31 years of law enforcement experience I have never seen a time with more challenges facing citizens of all ages to include a global pandemic and social tension throughout the nation. I asked Travis Scott and his team to work with HPD for all events over the weekend and to be mindful of his social-media messaging on any unscheduled events.”
Statement from Police Chief @TroyFinner on #ASTROWORLDFest:#hounews pic.twitter.com/RouNcMErv2
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) November 8, 2021
Travis Scott also took to Twitter to express his empathy towards the people who got affected by the Crowd Surge incident at his music concert. He posted,
I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life.”
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 6, 2021
Death
On 10 November 2021, Bharti Shahani was declared dead after she suffered a severe brain injury during the deadly crowd surge at rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival that happened on 5 November 2021. Shahani was on a ventilator. [1]NDTV
