(Franco Patiño and Jacob “Jake” Jurinek)
Two Naperville natives are among the people killed during the tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in Houston, Texas Friday night.
20 year-old Jacob “Jake” Jurinek and 21 year-old Franco Patiño were both killed when chaos erupted during rapper Scott’s performance.
At least six others were also killed, and hundreds of others injured, according to officials.
The disaster was caused by a crowd surge which crushed concertgoers as they were left trampled and gasping for air, struggling to survive against a wall of people pressing forward toward the stage.
Jurinek and Patiño were close friends and both graduated from Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville.
Patiño was a student at the University of Dayton, where he majored in mechanical engineering technology with a minor in human movement biomechanics, according to the university.
Jurinek was a junior at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale where he studied art and media, according to reports.
The universities are planning tributes for both Patiño and Jurinek. SIU has planned for a service on Monday, on campus, at 7 p-m for friends and classmates.
SIU Carbondale released a statement on the death of Jurinek.
“We are brokenhearted to lose a member of the Saluki family, Jacob Jurinek, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends. Jacob was a creative, intelligent young man, with a promising career in journalism and advertising. We understand this comes as a shock to many of our students. If they have mental health concerns, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is available to help them by calling 618-453-5371. As we mourn this loss in our community, we will keep Jacob’s family and friends in our thoughts.” said Austin Lane, chancellor of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
