Leaked Astroworld Festival Plan Instructed Staff To Call Dead Concertgoers 'Smurfs'

A leaked plan from the Astroworld music festival in Houston instructed staff members to refer to dead concertgoers as “Smurfs.”

In a 56-page security and emergency medical response plan obtained by CNN, security responding to a potential death were ordered to never use the terms “dead” or “deceased” when referring to potential fatalities throughout the duration of the event.

Instead, they were asked to use the code word “smurf” to notify the Event Control team of a deceased concertgoer. It is unclear whether any of the staff members used the code word.

"Based on the site's layout and numerous past experiences, a Security Plan has been established to help mitigate potential negative issues within the scope of the festival," Scoremore, a Texas-based concert promoter who authored the document, wrote in the plan.

The plan included protocols for situations where there is an active shooter or bomb threat. It also included another situational code for reporting a child gone missing during the event.

While the document addressed other possible scenarios that could lead to fatalities, such as a possible riot or civil unrest, it did not specifically include security protocols for a crowd surge.

"There's no reference to crowd surge, crowd crush, crowd panic. there's no reference to the front of the stage and festival seating crowd. And therefore, there's no specific emergency planning for a mass casualty crowd crush event,” Paul Wertheimer, founder and president of Crowd Management Strategies, told CNN.

Authorities said at least 50,000 people attended the Astroworld music festival when the tragedy happened Friday night. As headliner Travis Scott took the stage to perform, a huge crowd suddenly surged toward the venue’s stage, leading to the death of eight concertgoers.

The deaths involved two high school students, a mechanical engineering technology student and a man who was trying to save his fiancée. The victims included John Hilgert, 14, Brianna Rodriguez, 16, Jake Jurinek, 20, Axel Acosta, 21, Franco Patino, 21, Madison Dubiski, 23, Rudy Pena, 23, and Danish Baig, 27, according to Buzzfeed News.

Scoremore and national promoter Live Nation are currently cooperating with Houston police in their investigation. Travis Scott is also facing multiple lawsuits over the incident.