The problems at the set of the Western classic Rust seem to be never ending. Another horrific incident has taken place on the set of Rust when it was being shut down due to the accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who died of her injury and Joel Souza who was hospitalized for a shoulder wound and has been discharged, since.

On October 21, in a horrific turn of events, actor Alec Baldwin shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza. He was rehearsing with what had been called out as “cold gun” by assistant director Dave Hall which meant that there was no live ammo. The gun was reportedly checked by armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Unfortunately it had a live bullet which first hit Halyna fatally and then hit Souza.

After the shooting, Alec Baldwin had said that the low budget movie would not be completed. A crew member, who was helping wind down production of the movie Rust, was bitten by a venomous spider, according to a report by Sky News. Jason Miller, who is a pipe rigger as well as a lamp operator was bitten by a brown recluse spider, which is native to North America.

According to the report by the outlet, a Just Giving page Mr. Miller was on site on the set of the Rust which was shot near Santa Fe. The page was set up to pay for his medical expenses. After being bitten by the spider, he experienced severe symptoms such as necrosis of his arms as well as sepsis. He was hospitalized and has undergone multiple surgeries. The doctors have been doing their best to arrest the infection.

The page also said that Mr. Miller’s doctors were trying hard to avoid amputating his arm. It noted that it would be a “very long road to recovery for Jason” if the doctors were able to save his arm. It also mentioned that if he lost his arm, he and his family’s life would be changed by the “devastating event.”

A spokesperson for the producers of the movie Rust, including Alec Baldwin, sent a statement to Sky News that said that they did not comment on individual members of the cast and crew’s “private matters.”

According to a report in the Daily Mail the page has been taken down on Sunday.

 

The victims who lost their lives at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival have been identified by various news outlets. As reported earlier, the young victims reportedly died of heart attacks and were reported to be in the age group between 14 to 29. The horrific incident occurred at around 9.15 p.m. on Friday at the NRG Park on Houston, Texas, when there was a crowd surge.

the problem wasn’t the lack of paramedics and security. It’s the fact that some of you ppl in this concert are complete animals and have a disregard for anyone but yourself. RIP to the 8 souls. #ASTROWORLDFest https://t.co/LK1WUEMokO

– ⚡️ (@elariaxw) November 6, 2021

The victims who have been identified by the Daily Mail, People, Laredo Morning Times and other outlets are as follows:

John Hilgret–14
Brianna Rodriguez–16
Franco Patino–21
Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Pena–23
Danish Baig–27

The surge took place at 9.15 p.m. and it was declared to be a “mass casualty incident.” Nearly an hour later, Live Nation, who is the concert producer of Astroworld, halted the show. The cause of death has not been determined and investigations are ongoing.

TMZ reported that a “key person” who has contact with Astroworld, said that there was a “targeted attack” on Friday night. The person said that “someone” in the crowd became crazy and injected people with some type of a drug. This caused panic and then a surge.

The police said that they were keeping an open mind about what happened that night. However, Houston’s fire chief said that he thought that the tragedy occurred due to a “crush.”

On Saturday, Travis Scott spoke about the incident on Twitter. He said that he was “devastated” by the incident and his “prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld festival.” He noted that he was working closely with the authorities in Houston, which is his native place.

The rapper said that his fans meant the world to him. He also appealed to anyone who had information to come forward and share it.

Travis Scott also promised his followers that he would update them about any information that he received as the investigation proceeded. According to the Mail, he told them, “Every just continue to keep your prayers.”

Image Credit Twitter

On Friday, Brazilian country music singer Marilia Mendonca was one of the members who died in a fatal air crash. According to her public relations firm, the popular star was on the way to attend a concert when the plane crashed in a rural region of the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. Four other people have also died in the crash.

In a statement on Friday, the Minas Gerais Electric Company (CEMIG) said that the singer’s plane had hit a cable on an electric tower that belonged to their power company.

Ivan Lopes Sales, who is the police chief of Minas Gerais, said that it was too early to know what caused the crash. At the news conference, the police chief also said that the dispersed debris field indicated that the airplane might have “hit something” before it fell.

The country was shocked to hear that their popular singer had died in a crash. There was a huge outpouring of grief across the nation as it grappled with the loss of their charismatic star. Brazilian footballer Neymar who was one of her close friends posted on Twitter that he “refused to believe” that his friend was dead.

Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, said that the “entire country” had been shocked by the news of the death. The governor of Rio de Janeiro Claudio Castro said that her loss was a “tragic accident.” Caetano Veloso, who is well known from decades in Brazilian pop music genre MPB, called her “marvelous Mendonca” and said that he was tear stricken after nearing the news.

Ronaldo Caiado, who is the governor of Goias, the state that Mendonca and her family belong to, said that that her funeral would begin at about 8 a.m. on Saturday. He said that they were expecting up to 100,000 mourners at the capital city Goiania where her funeral will be held.

Marilia Mendonca was a Latin Grammy winner and was called “the Boss” by millions of fan. The 26-year old singer rose to fame when she sang in the popular sertanejo country music genre. She created waves as she sang about the empowerment of women in a male dominated musical environment.

Her PR firm said that she was the most listened to artist in the nation in 2019 and 2020 on the music platform–Spotify. She had over 38 million followers on the social media platform–Instagram. According to CNN Brasil, she leaves behind a one year old son.

 

Emergency officials have said that there was an unexpected and unexplained surge as a crowd at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival pressed forward towards the stage and created panic. Eleven people suffered from cardiac arrest and were taken to hospitals, out of whom eight died. Several hundreds were injured in the outdoor event that was attended by 50,000 people. The event that took place on Friday was stopped and the events scheduled for Saturday have been canceled.

Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said that the incident occurred at about 21:15 on Friday. He told reporters that “the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage and people began to panic.” He added that the panic increased as people fell unconscious or were getting injured in the crush.

Developing situation as fire trucks and ambulances responding to incident at Astroworld Festival at @nrgpark @KHOU pic.twitter.com/1FVwbKVl2f

– Zack Tawatari (@zacktKHOU) November 6, 2021

He also said event was stopped by organizers after they realized that many people had been injured but the huge number of casualties overwhelmed the medical facilities that were available at Houston’s NRG Park which was the venue at which the music festival took place. Around 300 people were treated for injuries including cuts and bruises.

Officials have set up a reunification center at a hotel which is located across the street from the NRG Stadium.

Larry Satterwhite, the executive assistant chief of Houston police said that Live Nation, which is the company organizing the festival, agreed to stop the festival early. On Saturday morning, as dawn was breaking, there were a few flashing lights and signs by the roadside which read: “Astroworld canceled”.

You can’t tell me Travis Scott didn’t see this kid getting resuscitated while he was up there doing the robot #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/cjqsiK29BS

– damn (@DexterL07617514) November 6, 2021

Judge Lina Hidalgo, of Harris County, the county in which Houston is located, said that their hearts were broken and added that people went to these events to have a “good time” and it was not an event where one could expect “fatalities.”

Travis Scott had started the Astroworld in 2018. The rapper is from Houston and named the event after the best seller “Astroworld” the album he dropped that year. According to Nielsen, it sold the equivalent of 537,000 album sales in the nation with 349 million streams and 270,000 copies as a complete album. It reached the top spot at the Billboard album chart. Travis Scott’s Astroworld musical festival was paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image Credit Twitter