Houston mayor says Travis Scott's deadly Astroworld Festival 'had more security' than the World Series

• Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival had "more security" than the World Series.
• Eight people were killed and hundreds were injured after the crowd of around 50,000 compressed toward the stage.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday the city had "more security" at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival on Friday than it did during the World Series, pledging a "thorough review and investigation" into the deadly event.

"We had more security over there than we had at the World Series games," Tuner told The New York Times in a phone interview Saturday.

Turner, who said he knew Scott's sister, mother, and grandmother but wasn't close with Scott, told the Times the event took place on country property with security organized by the city. Houston Police sent hundreds of officers to the event in addition to about 250 non-police security, he told the outlet.

Eight people were killed and hundreds were injured late Friday during Scott's set at the festival. The causes of death of the victims have not yet been released. As Insider previously reported, around 50,000 people compressed toward the stage at around 9:38 p.m. while Scott was performing at NRG Park, according to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña.

Those who died were between the ages of 16 and 23, the Houston mayor's office told the Times. The youngest person injured was a 10-year-old.

"The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries," Peña said. "People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic."

Video posted to Twitter by ABC13 reporter Mycah Hatfield earlier in the day showed fans overwhelming venue entrances, including "hundreds" of people who "destroyed" the VIP security entrance while others bypassed checkpoints.

In total, 17 people were transported to nearby hospitals with 11 experiencing cardiac arrest, according to NBC DFW. More than 300 people were treated at the scene at a field hospital set up in NRG Park, according to the report.

Turner told the Times on Saturday it was too soon to say whether security efforts at the event were adequate.

"I'm going to hold any sort of conclusion pending a thorough review and investigation," he said, according to the Times.

"We do know that there were several cases of cardiac arrest. What was the cause of that?" he said.

"I don't even want to go to drug overdoses," he added. "We are looking at all potential causes of this incident or what caused the cardiac arrest. We're not taking anything off the table."

Scott in a statement sent via Twitter Saturday said he was "absolutely devastated" by the incident.

"I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night," he said. "My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival."