Travis Scott concert: Eight dead in 'mass casualty event' at Astroworld Festival

At least eight people have died and hundreds have been injured in a "mass casualty event" during Travis Scott's Astroworld music festival in Houston, Texas.

The incident occurred on Friday night local time, with confronting footage from social media showing fans at the 50,000 strong event being treated by paramedics at the scene.

Fans "began to compress" towards the front of the stage while Scott was performing, causing chaos and mass injuries.

Scott's pregnant girlfriend Kyle Jenner was watching him perform alongside their three-year-old daughter Stormi, according to the Daily Mail.

There is no suggestion Jenner or Stormi are among those injured.

Jenner posted a series of videos to her Instagram story of Scott performing, including one which showed an ambulance making its way through the crowd of concertgoers.

In a statement from Astroworld's Twitter account organisers said their "hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight - especially those we lost and their loved ones" and they are "focused on supporting local officials".

Prior to the crowd surge, footage shared on Twitter showed Scott interrupting his set to request festival staff to intervene.

"Security, somebody help, jump in there real quick," the 29-year-old can be heard asking.

"Somebody jump in, come on, come on, security."

The exact cause of death for those caught up in tragedy is yet to be confirmed.

"We had at least eight confirmed fatalities tonight and scores of individuals that were injured," Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told reporters.

"The mass casualty incident was triggered at 9.38 this evening."