9th Astroworld Victim Is Declared Dead: Family of Bharti Shahani Speaks Out

The family of Bharti Shahani — a 22-year-old Texas A&M University student who died days after she was injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston — is speaking out.

As reported by KHOU, Bharti’s family confirmed that the young woman — who attended the concert last Friday with her sister Namrata Shahani and her cousin Mohit Bellani and was injured when the crowd of 50,000 surged toward the stage — has died after reportedly being declared brain-dead.

Attorneys for the family said Bharti was officially pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. on Wednesday, making her the ninth attendee to die.

At an emotional press conference on Thursday, Bharti’s family spoke out about the bright woman who, per her university’s student newspaper, was studying electronic systems engineering technology.

"She was like an angel for us.” Bharti's father Sunny said as his wife Karishma and other family members held hands behind him.

"Bharti is love," Karishma said. "Always thinking about everybody — friends, parents, family, her dog Blue."

Her family also described Bharti as the backbone of the family, and "the light of our lives" who was a gift from God.

"What happened to my blessing now? I want my baby back," Karishma continued, overcome with grief.

Namrata — who previously told KTRK that she and Mohit became separated from Bharti amid the chaos — added, "She was everything to me. We did everything together... she was like a second mother to me."

Earlier this week, Mohit spoke to KTRK and said “people started toppling like dominoes” when the stampede began.

“It was like a sinkhole. People were falling on top of each other,” Mohit told the news channel. “There were, like, layers of bodies on the ground, like two people thick. We were fighting to come up to the top and breathe to stay alive.”

Namrata and Mohit lost their cell phones and later reunited with Bharti at Houston Methodist Hospital, where she was in critical condition and placed on a ventilator.

The other victims who have died are Mirza Baig, 27, Rodolfo Peña, 23, Madison Dubiski, 23, Franco Patiño, 21, Jacob Jurinke, 20, John Hilgert, 14, Axel Acosta Avila, 21, and Brianna Rodriguez, 16.

On Thursday, People obtained a statement from Scott who said he and his team have been "actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons."

Scott added that he is "distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to [the families] as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family's wishes on how they'd best like to be connected."

The incident is still under investigation by Houston officials.