RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – A 23-year-old Brazilian Taylor Swift fan died in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night after falling ill in the sweltering stadium where the singer’s concert was held. This occurred amid a record-breaking heat-wave across large areas of Brazil.
Ana Clara Benevides became unwell at the Nilton Santos stadium, and event organizer T4F wrote on Instagram that she was promptly attended to by medical staff and then taken to an on-site medical station before being transferred to the Salgado Filho Hospital, where she died.
A crowd of 60,000 fans had gathered for Swift’s sell-out concert at the stadium, which is far from Rio’s breezy beaches in the north of the city.
The concert took place on the same day that Rio recorded its highest ever reading of the so-called heat index at 59.3 degrees Celsius, which combines temperature and humidity.
Swift, who is in Brazil for six shows as part of The Eras Tour, expressed her condolences to Benevides’ family and friends. She wrote on Instagram, “I’m not going to able to speak about this from the stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
According to Benevides’ friends, she became ill after the concert began, whereas Swift said that Benevides died “before my show.”
Justice Minister Flavio Dino called for an investigation after unconfirmed reports of a lack of drinking water for the audience in the stadium. He wrote on Twitter, “The Consumer Protection Code requires that services be safe and suitable for health. It is unacceptable for people to suffer, faint, and even die due to a lack of access to water.”
During the concert, several fans became ill, prompting Swift to interrupt the performance and request that the production team provide water for those in need, according to videos from the show.
Heat exhaustion, which can include dizziness, headaches, shaking, and thirst, is not usually serious, provided the person cools down within 30 minutes. The more serious version is heat-stroke, when the body’s core temperature goes above 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 degrees Celsius). It is a medical emergency and can lead to long-term organ damage and death.
(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; editing by Gabriel Stargardter and Jason Neely)
