Harris County to launch review of NRG Park in relation to Astroworld Festival deaths

Editor's Note: This article was updated to clarify information about the nature of the Commissioners Court independent review of NRG Park.

Updated Nov. 16 at 6:39 p.m.

Harris County officials will conduct an independent review into NRG Park's safety plans after the venue's Nov. 5 Astroworld Festival left 10 dead. The review received unanimous approval by Harris County commissioners at a special-called meeting Nov. 15.

The review will be conducted independently of any investigations that are ongoing. According to Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, the approved motion directs the county attorney to evaluate “the security, fire, life and safety plans of all scheduled outdoor concerts on NRG Park property."

The review will be conducted in coordination with the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., the Harris County Houston Sports Authority and the Houston mayoral office. The review will not interfere with the Houston Police Department’s ongoing criminal investigation, County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo initially proposed the county conduct an independent investigation on the Astroworld tragedy, however after discussing the suggestion in executive session, commissioners ultimately voted on a motion from Garcia to conduct an independent review of NRG Park instead.

“While the ... Houston Police Department pursues its investigation into any possible criminal elements and the courts determine possible civil liability, I still think that we should do more,” Hidalgo said. “The responsible thing to do is to take a big-picture look at all the things that happened because ... we all know that it's a complicated web of entities that were involved in making this event a possibility.”

The commissioners’ decision came one day after the death of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, the 10th person to die from injuries sustained at rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival. Blount and Bharti Shahani, a 22-year-old Texas A&M University student who died Nov. 10, were both put on life support following injuries they sustained at the concert, county officials said.

“My hope is that whatever we learn will inform other jurisdictions because this kind of thing has happened before, not here, but there have been tragedies before,” Hidalgo said.