A teen who loved dancing. An aspiring Border Patrol agent. A computer science student. An engineering student working on a medical device to help his ailing mother. And his friend and high school football teammate.
Clearer pictures began to emerge Sunday of some of the eight people who died after fans at the Astroworld music festival in Houston suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott.
The dead ranged from 14 to 27 years old, according to Houston officials. As of Sunday, 13 people remained hospitalized.
Franco Patino, 21, was working toward a mechanical engineering technology degree at the University of Dayton, with a minor in human movement biomechanics, his father, Julio Patino, said in an interview. He was a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, a Hispanic interest fraternity, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and was working in an engineering co-op program.
Patino described his son as a charismatic, energetic leader who was active in his community and intent on helping people with disabilities.
Jacob "Jake" Jurinek, 20, was a junior at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he was "pursuing his passion for art and media," his family said in a statement Sunday. He was just over two weeks short of his 21st birthday.
He was attending the concert with Franco Patino, his friend and former high school football teammate, according to Julio Patino. He was deeply committed to his family and was known as "Big Jake" by his younger cousins.
Danish Baig, who identified himself on Facebook as a district manager for AT&T, and appeared to be a devoted Dallas Cowboys fan, was among those who died at the concert, his brother Basil Baig said on Facebook.
"He was (an) innocent young soul who would always put others before him. He was a hard-working man who loved his family and took care of us. He was there in a heartbeat for anything. He always had a solution to everything," Basil Baig told ABC News.
Brianna Rodriguez's family told People magazine that she was among those who perished at the concert. She was 16, a student at Heights High School and loved dancing, according to the family the magazine spoke with.
Axel Acosta, 21, was a computer science major at Western Washington University. His father, Edgar Acosta, told KOMO-TV his son was among the victims who died at the festival.
The school in Bellingham, Washington, released a statement Sunday: "By all accounts, Axel was a young man with a vibrant future. We are sending our condolences to his family on this very sad day."
Rudy Pena, of Laredo, Texas, was a student at Laredo College and wanted to be a Border Patrol agent, his friend Stacey Sarmiento said. She described him as a people person.
"Rudy was a close friend of mine," she said. "We met in high school. He was an athlete … He brought happiness anywhere he went. He was easy to get along with. It was like positive vibes from him at all times."
City officials said they were in the early stages of investigating what caused the pandemonium at the sold-out event founded by Scott. About 50,000 people were there.
Experts who have studied deaths caused by crowd surges say they are often a result of density — too many people packed into a small space. The crowd is often either running away from a perceived threat or toward something, such as a performer, before hitting a barrier.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
