Taylor Swift has posted to Instagram her heartfelt reaction to the news that a 23-year-old fan died Friday night while attending her concert at Brazil’s Nilton Santos Olympic stadium.
The show’s organizers, Time4Fun, announced on social media that 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides Machado was reportedly feeling unwell, and was treated by paramedics on site before being taken to the stadium’s first aid center. She was then brought to a local hospital in Rio de Janiero, where she died.
Her cause of death has not yet been revealed. Local media reported the temperatures were sweltering at the time of the show, and fans were not allowed to take water into the stadium.
In an Instagram Story, Taylor’s handwritten note began “I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it is with a shattered 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. there is very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
Taylor’s note continued, “I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends.”
During the show, USA Today reports that Taylor called several times for fans to be given water and even threw a water bottle into the crowd.
On social media, Rio de Janiero mayor Eduardo Paes called the death “unacceptable” and demanded “emergency” changes before Taylor’s final two Brazil concerts, including keeping waiting fans out of the sun, new water distribution points, and more first responders and ambulances on scene.
Time4Fun subsequently announced on social media that free water would be offered to fans throughout the event, that fans would be allowed to bring sealed water and food into the stadium with them, and that the number of medical staff and stations had been increased.
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