First pictures of victims crushed in crowd at Travis Scott festival

The four victims identified so far are aged 16 to 27 (Picture: Instagram/Reuters/Facebook)

Four victims of a crush at Astroworld music festival in Texas have been named, including a 16-year-old girl.

Pictures of the quartet emerged as a criminal investigation was launched into the deadly stampede at the event, organised by rap star Travis Scott.

Dozens were injured at the tragedy on Friday, as crowds surged towards the stage before the festival was cancelled.

Danish Baig, 27, Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Peña, 23, Franco Patino, 21, and Brianna Rodriguez, 16, have been named as four of the eight victims.

One of the other victim had not been identified on Saturday, according to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who said the remaining three were aged 14, 21 and 23.

At least two investigations were underway on Sunday as officials in Houston said autopsies were being performed as soon as possible so their bodies could be returned to family members.

Houston city police chief Troy Finner said his department had opened a criminal investigation by homicide and narcotics detectives, following reports that somebody in the audience had been injecting people with drugs.

Brianna Rodriguez was just 16-years-old (Picture: Facebook)

Danish Baig, 27, was also among the eight victims (Picture: Facebook)

The city’s fire chief, Samuel Pena, said several concert goers had to be revived with the anti-drug overdose medicine Narcan, including a security officer who appeared to have been injected in the neck with a substance by a concert goer.

Harris County Judge Lina Hildago called for an ‘objective, independent’ investigation into the tragedy, explaining that around 50,000 fans were attending the rap festival when the stampede took place.

‘Perhaps the plans were inadequate. Perhaps the plans were good but they weren’t followed,’ Judge Hildago said.

‘The families of those who died, everybody affected, deserves answers.’

Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Peña, 23, died after the crush (Picture: Facebook)

Franco Patino, 21, is the third youngest victim identified (Picture: Facebook)

In a 90-second video released on Twitter on Saturday, Mr Scott said that he was ‘absolutely devastated’

‘While on stage, I could just not imagine the severity of the situation’, he added.

The rest of the two-day festival has been cancelled after the disaster unfolded at NRG Park at about 9.30 p.m. during the headline performance by Scott, a Grammy nominated singer and producer, at the climax of the opening day.

The deaths happened near the stage, with some victims suffering cardiac arrests and other medical trauma, officials said.

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MORE : Travis Scott speaks out in emotional video after Astroworld tragedy: ‘I could never imagine the severity’

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