American superstar Taylor Swift on Saturday mourned the death of a 23-year-old fan during her first show in Brazil in front of 60,000 people.
The death occurred in an overheated area of Rio de Janeiro where Swift, as seen in videos on social media, tried to help thirsty fans by sending helpers to pass out bottles of water. and even throwing one into the audience itself.
“It’s with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight,” Swift said in a post on Instagram to her millions of followers. “I can’t tell you how devastated I am by this.”
The Rio Health Secretariat reported that patient Ana Benevides died on Friday night after suffering cardiorespiratory arrest at the Nilton Santos stadium during Swift’s concert.
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It said efforts to revive the young woman failed and an investigation was launched. “At this time, the cause of death cannot be determined,” the agency said.
The death occurred as much of central and southeastern Brazil suffered an unusually oppressive spring heat wave.
Rio’s heat index — which combines air temperature and humidity — soared to 59 degrees centigrade (138 Fahrenheit) during the day.
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Organizers of the event faced heavy criticism after refusing to allow people to bring water bottles into the venue, despite rising temperatures.
Brazil’s Ministry of Justice on Saturday published a resolution asking event organizers to guarantee that visitors have access to potable water.
“It is unacceptable that people suffer, faint and even die because of lack of access to water,” said Justice Minister Flavio Dino, adding that the cause of the woman’s death has not been formally determined.
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In her post, Swift said she won’t discuss the woman’s death from the stage because “I feel so sad when I try to talk about it.
“I feel this loss and my heart goes out to his family and friends,” he added.
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