Taylor Swift posted on social media, saying, "I can't even tell you how devastated I am by this."
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—American pop sensation Taylor Swift said on Saturday that the death of a 23-year-old fan at a show in front of 60,000 fans in Brazil “devastated” her.
Swift, as seen in videos on social media, attempted to quench fans’ thirst by sending aides to hand out water bottles and even threw one to the audience herself. However, the death occurred at a sweltering Rio de Janeiro venue.
Swift posted on social media to inform her millions of followers that “Ana Benevides, (who) attended last night’s show in Rio for The Eras Tour, has passed away.”
Swift continued on Instagram, saying, “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this.” According to the Rio Health Secretariat, Benevides passed away on Friday. She had earlier claimed that she felt unwell and had experienced a cardiorespiratory arrest during Swift’s first-ever performance in Brazil at the Nilton Santos stadium.
It stated that the young woman’s attempts to resuscitate herself had failed and that it was premature to ascertain “the precise cause of death, which will be investigated.” The incident happened during a particularly intense springtime heat wave that affected much of central and southeast Brazil.
The combination of air temperature and humidity, known as the heat index, reached a high of 59 degrees centigrade (138 Fahrenheit) during the day in Rio. Despite the extreme heat, the event organizers have come under fire for forbidding attendees from bringing water bottles within the venue.
With regard to “necessary measures on access to water in shows and other public spectacles,” Justice Minister Flavio Dion announced on Saturday that his ministry will also look into who was responsible for damage that had “already caused.”
He declared, “It is unacceptable that people suffer, faint, and even die due to lack of access to water,” and mentioned that Benevides’s exact cause of death was still unknown.
