Death toll in Texas concert stampede climbs to 9

By Andy Roesgen

CHICAGO, US (AA) - With relatives quietly sobbing nearby, the attorney for the family of Bharti Shahani announced Thursday that the 22-year-old college student had died the night before, the ninth fatal victim of a deadly stampede at a concert by rapper Travis Scott in Houston, Texas.

Shahani, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was among those killed when the crowd at the outdoor Astroworld music festival surged forward last Friday night, early in Scott's performance.

"Never in a million years, when she took off with her friends, her sister and her cousin to the show, [did her family imagine] that that would be the last time they ever saw her," family attorney James Lassiter said.

Lassiter has filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family.

Lassiter would not discuss the lawsuit or the criminal investigation that has been launched, but he said the concert failed "at every level."

"Everyone gets an 'F'," he said, "from the performer down to the ticket sales."

"The way that this festival was put on was a recipe for disaster that these people cooked up. They ignored safety. They put profits over safety, and as a result, we have this tragedy."

Lassiter called Bharti "a shining star in the community, a sister, a daughter, a high-achieving college student about to graduate from Texas A&M University with high, high grades."

Her family also spoke at Thursday's press conference and talked about how she was the head of the family.

Her mother, Karishma Shahani, pointed to her heart and cried: "What happened to her? I want my baby back. I'm empty here."

Lassiter said a widely-circulated video from the concert that showed a woman falling from a gurney as medical workers tried to get her to safety was Bharti Shahani. She suffered multiple heart attacks and eventually showed no brain activity.

Hundreds more were injured in the stampede, and among those still in the hospital is a nine-year-old boy, who also shows no brain activity, according to his family.

Lassiter revealed that his own 17-year-old son attended the concert.

"I was blessed that he made it home that night. The Shahanis did not get that same dream."