Astroworld victim Ezra Blount, 9, on life support as his dad says 'I'm not ready to lose my boy'

Ezra Blount's father is speaking out for the first time since his nine-year-old son was gravely injured at the Astroworld Festival last week.

The boy is now on life support as he continues to fight for his life in hospital.

As reported by CNN, the opening night of the two-night festival - which was founded by 30-year-old rapper Travis Scott - ended in tragedy when a chaotic crowd surge among the 50,000 concert-goers resulted in eight people losing their lives.

Additionally, around 300 people were treated for injuries, as attendees rushed to the stage as Scott - who was performing his set at the NRG Park in Houston, Texas.

As waves of people flocked to the front of the crowd, people were crushed and trampled, as emergency personnel scrambled to save trapped and injured festival-goers. Per BBC News, officials stated that 11 people were transported to hospitals in cardiac arrest.

Yesterday, the death toll rose to nine after 22-year-old student Bharti Shahani succumbed to her injuries in hospital.

Blount's heartbroken dad has now spoken out about the tragedy that left his son in a critical state, saying that his son is now in a medically-induced coma.

Recounting the events leading up to his son's life-threatening injuries, Blount told ABC 13 Houston: "He was stoked. He was ready to go. When I found out that he was a big fan [of Travis Scott], I was like, 'Oh yeah, we gotta go, we gotta go see Travis live.'"

The doting dad noted that when he and Ezra arrived at the festival, they purposely stayed further back in the crowd and away from the stage. "We were in the back, way in the back, and I figured, 'Okay, this is cool,' 'cause the front can get a little wild," he said.

However, the concert still got out of hand, and Blount passed out from the pressure of the crowd. Ezra, who was sitting on his father's shoulders, then fell and was trampled.

Once Blount regained consciousness, Ezra had already been taken to the hospital because his major organs had been damaged and he had brain swelling, the outlet reported.

"I could tell that he was damaged," he said. "I'm not ready to lose my boy at all. We still got a bunch of living to do... That's my boy."

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