"Cannot believe": Internet mourns Rudy Pena's demise in tragic Astroworld Fest stampede

Rudy Pena was one of the victims who died at Astroworld 2021 (Image via Rudy Pena/Facebook)

Texas native Rudy Pena was among the eight victims who tragically died at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival following a mass stampede at the venue. He was reportedly 23 at the time of his passing.

On Friday, November 5, Houston’s NRG Park witnessed a tragic scene as eight individuals passed away and more than 300 were injured after a sudden crowd surge during Travis Scott’s concert.

Massive chaos ensued as nearly 50,000 individuals attempted to exit the outdoor area, leaving several people suffocated and unconscious. 25 people were immediately rushed to the hospital for severe injuries, including 11 cardiac arrest survivors.

Laredo victim Rudy Pena’s death was announced by his cousin Kimberly Escamilla on Facebook. Meanwhile, his sister Jennifer also confirmed the tragic news to the Laredo Morning Times:

“We found out about my brother around 12:30 a.m. that he was taken to a hospital Ben Taub Hospital in Houston, Texas unconscious. We made the call he was there that’s all they told us nothing else... my mom got there to a hotel medical center by Kirby Dr. in Houston and it was there where they gave us the sad news that my brother had passed away.”

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner mentioned that individuals who died in the stampede were aged between 14 and 27. Other victims of the incident include Brianna Rodriguez, Franco Patino, Jacob Jurinek, Jorge Perez and John Hilgert.

---

Twitter pays heartfelt tributes to late Rudy Pena

Rudy was a 23-year-old student from Texas (Image via Rudy Pena/Facebook)

Rudy Pena was a 23-year-old student at Laredo College, Texas. He graduated from Nixon High School and was a budding footballer. His sister described him as sweet, cheerful and outgoing. She also shared that her brother had many friends and supported other people throughout his life:

“My brother was the sweetest person, friendly, outgoing, he had many friends because he was always there for everyone. Yes, he was a big fan of Travis, he loved his music."

Following the news of his tragic demise in the Astroworld stampede, several social media users took to Twitter to mourn the loss of the youngster:

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been organized to support the expense of Rudy Pena’s memorial and funeral. As per the latest update, the transactions on the page will be handled by his brother starting tomorrow.

Rudy's GoFundMe Page (Image via GoFundMe)

So far, no immediate cause of the student’s death has been revealed. However, authorities are actively investigating the scene of the incident.

The latest investigation report has also led to suspicions of involvement in drugs after an unknown man from the crowd injected a security official inside the venue.

Meanwhile, rapper Travis Scott has provided his condolences to the deceased and agreed to support the families of everyone affected by the tragedy during his concert.