Tragic Death of Taylor Swift Fan at Concert in Hot Rio de Janeiro
RIO DE JANEIRO—A young Brazilian fan of singer Taylor Swift died in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night after falling ill inside the superstar’s sweltering concert venue, leading the government to order drinking water is provided and made easily accessible at shows.
Ana Clara Benevides, 23, became unwell at the Nilton Santos stadium, event organizer T4F wrote on Instagram. It said 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.
Rio state health service said she arrived at the hospital with her heart stopped. Her cause of death is unknown and will be investigated.
Some 60,000 fans had gathered for Ms. Swift’s sell-out concert at the stadium, which is located far from Rio’s breezy picture-postcard beaches in a hotter northern neighborhood.
The show took place on the same day that Rio recorded its highest ever reading of the so-called heat index, which combines temperature and humidity, at 59.3 degrees Celsius (138.74 degrees Fahrenheit).
During the concert, several fans fell ill, prompting Ms. Swift to interrupt her performance and request that the production team provide them with water, videos showed.
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Justice Minister Flavio Dino announced that the government would issue a directive allowing water bottles to be brought into concerts.
“Companies producing shows with high heat exposure must provide free drinking water in easily accessible ‘hydration islands.’ The measure is effective immediately,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The announcement followed National Consumer Secretary Wadih Damous’s post on X stressing the government had ordered T4F to guarantee water access at all of Ms. Swift’s concerts in Brazil.
T4F did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Swift—who is scheduled to perform in Rio on Saturday and Sunday, followed by three shows in São Paulo between Nov. 24 and Nov. 26—offered condolences to Ms. Benevides’ family and friends.
“I’m not going to be able to speak about this from the stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it,” she wrote on Instagram. “This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Reuters witnessed fans suffering in the heat on Saturday as they waited to get in the show later.
Ms. Swift had been welcomed to Rio by a projection on the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. She wrote that her fan died “before my show.” However, Ms. Benevides’ friends told local media that she became ill after the concert began.
Heat exhaustion, which can include dizziness, headaches, shaking, and thirst, is not usually serious, providing 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.
