Woman dies after attending sweltering Taylor Swift concert in Rio

Swift shared a statement regarding the death on Instagram overnight. “I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a broken 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 wrote. “I feel overwhelmed with grief whenever I even try to talk about it. I want to say right now that I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to his family and friends. This was the last thing I thought would happen when we decided to do this tour in Brazil.

According to Brazilian media, Benevides was from the central state of Mato Grosso and was studying psychology at the Federal University of Rondonópolis. Photos showed her at Friday’s show, smiling and wearing friendship bracelets popularized among Swift fans.

“I lost my only daughter, a happy and intelligent girl,” says father Weiny Machado says Folha de S.Paulo. “There are no words to express my pain.” He said he gave her a ticket to the show so she could achieve what he called her “dream.”

Concert videos shared on social media documented Quick stop in the middle of the show as audience members chanted “Water!” » and ask staff to remedy the situation.

“It’s really hot, so when someone says they need water… they really need it,” she said.

At other times during the three-hour concert, the singer asked for water after performing “Mastermind”, and she also picked up a bottle and I threw it in a section a crowd.

This death shocked many people in Rio de Janeiro, which has welcomed supporters from all over the country in recent days. The Swifties had been energized for the Eras Tour’s record-breaking stops in Brazil after sweeping North America. To celebrate the pop star’s arrival, an image of a Swift T-shirt was projected onto the iconic Rio de Janeiro landmark. Christ the Redeemer statue saying “Welcome to Brazil” and more than 60,000 fans were at the tour Friday night, according to the New York Times.

But Swift’s visit coincided with a dangerous heatwave which has ravaged the country over the past week. Rio de Janeiro experienced a heat index – which measures temperature and humidity – of 138 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday morning, the highest ever recorded in the region.

Onlookers reported a chaotic scene at the scene. Fans got sick, complained about inadequate water delivery and said the show was dangerously crowded. Several people at the concert fainted in the heat, according to local media reports.

Some of Swift’s fans criticized the stadium on social media, saying attendees weren’t allowed to bring water bottles inside. Time4Fun said on Instagram that the bottle ban was a “requirement made by public bodies”. Many spectators waited for hours in the sun before the show began.

Inside, cups of water were sold for almost $2 and proved difficult for many to obtain.

“It was by far the hottest heat I have ever felt in my life,” said one onlooker. said in Marie Claire of Brazil. “There was no air movement and it was super full. During Taylor’s show, I noticed many people getting dizzy from the heat, getting sick, and friends and family running around looking for water.

Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes responded to the incident in a statement published on X. “The loss of life of a young woman yesterday at the Engenhão show is unacceptable. Obviously we are still getting more details about the circumstances of what happened,” he wrote in Portuguese.

The new guidelines, he said, would include allowing fans to enter an hour earlier to protect the public from the sun, new water distribution points and an increase in the number of brigades and ambulances.

Minister of Justice of Brazil Flavio Dino said in a statement that organizers of shows subject to high heat exposure will be required to provide easily accessible “hydration stations” with free drinking water in the future. And spectators will be allowed to bring personal water bottles to events.

Late Saturday afternoon, Swift posted on Instagram that she was canceling that evening’s show at the same venue.

“I am writing this from my dressing room in the stadium,” she said. “The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio. The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow artists, and team must and will always come first. »

This story has been updated.