A 23-year-old woman died after fainting and going into cardiac arrest during Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil on Friday.
Ana Clara Benevides had reportedly been at Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium for more than eight hours when she began to feel unwell. Temperatures in Rio de Janerio on Friday were in the high 90s, and water bottles were not allowed inside of the venue.
Benevides was initially treated by medical staff at the venue before being transported to a local hospital, where she ultimately passed away, according to The Associated Press.
Related Video
Swift paid tribute to Benevides in a statement posted to Instagram, writing: “I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it’s with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show.”
“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” she continued. “There’s very little information I have other than the fact she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
Swift added that she would not speak about Benevides’ death during her performances because “I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Footage from Friday’s concert showed Swift pausing several times to check on the well-being of fans and make sure they had water. “There’s people that need water, right here,” Swift said at one point. “So whoever is in charge of giving them that, please come and make sure that that happens.
In total, over 1,000 fans reportedly received treatment for heat-related issues during Friday’s concert.
In light of Benevides’ passing, Brasil’s minister of justice and public security, Flávio Dino, said he would be implementing “emergency rules” regarding access to water at shows and other public events.”
