Fans of US singer Taylor Swift queue outside the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium before Swift’s concert, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour”, amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro on November 18, 2023.
Photo: Tercio Teixeira/AFP
- The death of a fan during Taylor Swift’s concert in Rio de Janeiro was caused by heat exhaustion.
- Ana Benevides died during Swift’s first “Eras Tour” show in Brazil on 17 November after the head index had risen to 59 degrees Celsius.
- According to the autopsy, Benevides died from “thermal exhaustion due to diffuse exposure to heat” and suffered from “cardiovascular shock” and bleeding of the lungs, which resulted in “sudden death”.
The death of a fan during Taylor Swift’s November concert in Rio de Janeiro was caused by heat exhaustion, according to an autopsy report published on Wednesday by Brazilian media.
Ana Benevides, 23, died during Swift’s first “Eras Tour” show in Brazil on 17 November after the head index had risen to 59 degrees Celsius in the Brazilian beach city that day.
Benevides, who was one of 60 000 fans attending the concert, died from “thermal exhaustion due to diffuse exposure to heat”, the autopsy report read.
It also determined that the young woman suffered from “cardiovascular shock” and bleeding of the lungs, which resulted in “sudden death”.
The report by Rio de Janeiro state’s Civil Police was published by local media. Reached by AFP, the agency declined to comment or confirm the report.
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Swift said she was “devastated” by the death and postponed her second show scheduled for the following night.
The show’s organisers have faced criticism after fans said they were forbidden from entering the Nilton Santos Stadium with water bottles, despite the overwhelming heat.
The company organising the show, Time For Fun, said the young woman was quickly treated by first responders after feeling unwell and then transferred to a hospital an hour later.
Time for Fun later apologised, saying they should have prepared better.
In November, much of central and south-eastern Brazil was suffering an unusually oppressive springtime heat wave.