Representatives in the Committee of Oversight and Reform sent a letter to Live Nation on Wednesday (December 22), requesting information into the Astroworld music festival tragedy, that left 10 people dead and hundreds injured. 

The five lawmakers on the bipartisan committee, including Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, committee chairwoman, and Rep. James Comer, addressed the letter to Live Nation CEO Micheal Rapino,  as the concert giant was responsible for “planning, staffing, putting up money, securing permits, finding vendors, communicating with local agencies.” 

“Recent reports raise serious concerns about whether your company took adequate steps to ensure the safety of the 50,000 concertgoers who attended Astroworld Festival,” the letter states. “For instance, reports indicate that security and medical staff were inexperienced or ill-equipped to deal with mass injuries. Some attendees stated that the placement of barricades made it difficult to escape. Experts have stated that Astroworld Festival organizers failed to heed warning signs.”

The committee requested Rapino to provide “contracts related to Astroworld Festival security, communications, and medical care” by Jan. 7, as well as provide written answers for eight questions regarding the tragedy, including “reports that Live Nation has withheld pay from Astroworld employees until they have signed revised employment contracts that release Live Nation from liability.”

The Committee on Oversight and Reform also asked Rapino to explain why, if the festival was declared a “mass casualty event” at 9:38 p.m.,  Live Nation waited until 10:10 p.m. to stop the concert.