By now, many media outlets have already reported about the tragedy that took place early this morning at Austin’s South By Southwest Festival. The police department and many artists have taken to the internet to speak out about the tragedy that occurred.
Just a short while ago, organizers behind the annual event released their own statement on behalf of themselves and all the staff about what happened. The statement, though short also revealed that one of the victims was identified as Steven Craenmehr, MassiveMusic’s Amsterdam-based creative director and that all events will still be going as scheduled unless they are told otherwise.
“The SXSW staff is stunned and deeply moved by the events of last night.
Dozens of us were on the scene when the incident occurred and we worked closely with APD to create a perimeter around the area, turning back all the visitors spilling out of the clubs who headed north on Red River Street.
To avoid confusion we plan to carry on with our scheduled daytime events at the Austin Convention Center in order to serve our tens of thousands of participants during this tragic time.
All of the SXSW staff and volunteers reported for their regular duties this morning and will continue working today on the event.
We are contacting all of the venues to find out if they have made any decisions about their operations that might impact our visitors.
Despite all of our preparations for dealing with a major incident during SXSW, nothing could really prepare us for how this feels. As much as we would like to just go home and spend time absorbing the shock of this horrific event, we feel our best use is to continue to operate today.
One of the fatalities was a SXSW registrant, a gentleman from the Netherlands.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured and with the families of the fatalities.”
The Mohawk, the venue where the crash occurred in front of, has revealed they will be cancelling all afternoon events while events for this evening are still pending.
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