Mirza Danish Baig, a 27-year-old Pakistani-American, who died saving the love of his life, was among eight people who lost their lives during a crowd surge at a sold-out Astroworld music festival in Houston.
Danish, who had traveled from Dallas to Houston on a planned trip to attend the festival, was trying to save his fiancée Olivia Swingle, who was being trampled in the chaos at rapper Travis Scott’s concert.
“He died trying to save his love of his life,” Basil Baig, his brother, said according to an NBC report.
“My brother was trying to save her and he did. He saved her and it cost him his life,” Basil said.
The other seven victims identified by the authorities included Rodolfo Peña, 23; Madison Dubiski, 23; Franco Patino, 21; Jacob Jurinek, 20; John Hilgert, 14; Axel Acosta Avila, 21; Brianna Rodriguez, 16.
After a funeral service on Sunday, Danish was buried in Colleyville, Texas, where friends and members of the family mourned his tragic loss.
“He managed to get it to where she was able to get out,” Danish’s brother Ammar Baig told People magazine. He said that Danish was separated from Olivia, 25, in the chaos.
“Somehow, the ambulance managed to get to her and then, by the time they got to my brother, they tried resuscitating him. And they said that before they got to the hospital, he couldn’t make it.”
The Baig family migrated from Karachi to the United States during Danish’s infancy. His family has called for justice.
“You go to a concert to have fun,” Danish’s brother said. “You don’t go to a concert to die.”
Danish and his fiancée Olivia both worked at AT&T telecommunications company, where he was a district manager.
Olivia expressed her feelings over heartbreaking loss in a Facebook post.
“He would always take care of his fiancée. He would always get her whatever she wants. They would always have goals, plans, all these things he had in his mind for them,” Ammar said of the couple. “He just started his life.”
“We just want prayers for him,” Ammar added.
Danish, the middle child of five siblings, moved with his family from Karachi, Pakistan, to Texas when he was a baby, according to People magazine.
Danish learned from his mom how to make popular dishes like “chicken tikka” and “beef boti” and he was known for “making a lot of good barbecues,” according to the report.
A tearful Ammar said his brother Danish had planned to buy a house for their parents at the end of this month.
“I’m the oldest brother, but he would do all the things that I should be doing,” he continues. “And he would be there for them any time they needed it.”
