Astroworld victim's dog keeps looking for her around the house, heartbroken cousin says
- The beloved dog of the ninth victim to die in the Astroworld tragedy keeps looking for her, a relative said.
- Bharti Shahani "was his mom," Shahahi's cousin, Mobit Bellani, said of her husky named Blue.
The beloved dog of the ninth victim to die following a crowd surge at Travis Scott's doomed Astroworld music Festival has been desperately searching for its owner around its Texas home, a heartbroken relative said Thursday.
Bharti Shahani "was his mom," Shahahi's cousin, Mobit Bellani, told reporters of the 22-year-old woman's husky pup named Blue, after the family's lawyer announced that Shahani had died.
"He is still looking for her all around the house," Bellani said about two-year-old Blue.
Shahani, a 22-year-old Texas A&M senior, was left without brain activity after being crushed in the crowd surge at the Houston musical festival at NRG Park last Friday.
She died Wednesday after being hospitalized with critical injuries, according to family attorney James Lassiter.
Shahani's devastated family addressed the media Thursday.
"I walked into the room and I saw her with the tubes down her throat and I just wish we could bring her back, somehow," said Bellani, who attended the concert with Shahani along with her sister Namrata Shahani.
Bellani said that he could not call the concert that left eight others dead and hundreds injured "a festival" and instead referred to it as an "atrocity."
"They suffocated us. They did this to Bharti. They suffocated Bharti," Bellani said. "They did this to the other eight people who also lost their life that night."
Namrata Shahani called her sister her "best friend."
"She was also Blue's best friend," Namrata said, adding that her sibling was the "only one" who could take Blue out on a walk.
A representative for Scott said in a statement Thursday that the rapper is "distraught" by the Astroworld tragedy.
"Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons," the statement read.
It continued, "He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family's wishes on how they'd best like to be connected."
Scott's team provided an email that families of victims could reach out to.