A Taylor Swift swift fan died during Friday night’s concert in Brazil at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro as the city came under a heat warning.
Ana Clara Benevides, 23, fainted while at the show and is believed to have had a cardiac arrest according to her cousin, Estela Benevides, and as reported by Brazilian newspaper Fohla De Sao Paolo.
Doctors at the scene attempted to revive the young fan but were unable to do. Swift was seen pleading with stadium staff to give concertgoers water in clips shared to social media. In a subsequent statement, the star said Benevides died before the concert and it is unclear if the group she was pointing to included the dead woman.
Benevides was taken Salgado Filho Municipal Hospital but died soon afterwards. The weather in Rio was 100F on Friday, leading to a local heat warning, but felt more like 109F, according to USA Today.
Fans claimed online that they’d been banned from taking water into the venue. DailyMail.com has been unable to verify this claim.
Ana Clara Benevides, 23, died after fainting at the show and suffering a cardiac arrest
The 33-year-old pop star stopped her show in order for water to be given to some members of the excited crowd
Shortly after the show was over, Swift wrote of her shock at what had happened.
Swift could be seen gesturing in the crowd to where thirsty fans desperately needed water
Swift was able to get water from personnel in the crown which she then threw out into the crowd
Temperatures in the stadium were at around 100 Fahrenheit during the performance which at one point saw the 33-year-old pop star stop her show in order for water to be given to some members of the excited crowd.
Shortly after the show was over, Swift wrote of her shock at what had happened on Instagram.
‘I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it is with her 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 by this,’ Swift wrote.
‘There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far two young,’ she continued.
‘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. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply, and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring the store to Brazil.’
At one stage during the show, Swift brought the gig to a half and threw a water bottle into the crowd.
While singing, Swift chucked the bottle of water out into the crowd to cheers
Fans could be seen sweating in the Brazilian heat as temperatures reached 100F
Taylor Swift performs onstage during The Eras Tour at Estadio Olimpico Nilton Santos in Rio
‘There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back,’ she said pointing to a group on the floor of the arena.
‘So whoever is in charge of giving them that, just make sure that happens. Can I get a signal that you know where they are?’
‘Do you see the phones?’ Swift could be heard talking to her team off-stage as the crowd chanted: ‘Water, water, water, water.’
In another portion of the show, Swift continued to sing while throwing a bottle of water into the crowd.
The Eras Tour has a further two shows in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday and Sunday before heading to São Paulo, Brazil next weekend in the final stop of the 2023 tour leg.
Taylor Swift fan Ally Anderson died on November 13 at the age of 16 after battling cancer for five years. She is pictured on her way to the singer’s Eras Tour concert in Cincinnati on July 1
Ally was brought down from her seat and taken to the front of the stage at the show, where Swift gifted her the black fedora from her ’22’ costume
Earlier on Friday, a 16-year-old Taylor Swift fan who was gifted the singer’s ’22’ hat during her Eras Tour stop in Cincinnati died after a five-year battle with cancer.
Ally Anderson was diagnosed with stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive and rare soft tissue cancer, in 2018, at the age of 11. She died on November 13, according to People.
When the teen attended Swift’s concert in Cincinnati on July 1, she was brought down from her seat and taken to the front of the stage.
The smiling pop star danced up to her and placed her black fedora from her ’22’ costume on her head as she held her hand over her mouth in disbelief.
Ally’s mother, Patty Garner Anderson, told People that the special moment ‘changed my daughter’s life immensely’
Patty explained that she and her daughter were long-time Swift fans, recalling how Ally was eight years old when she attended the pop star’s 1989 World Tour in 2015 (pictured)
The moment was an unforgettable one for both Ally and her mother, Patty Garner Anderson, who was in the audience with her.
‘It changed my daughter’s life immensely,’ she told People. ‘I hadn’t seen Ally smile and laugh like that in a very long time.’
Ally shared a video of herself wearing the fedora on TikTok with the caption: ‘What happened.’ She also posted footage of the moment Swift gave her the gift.
‘No words to describe what it felt like to be pulled from my seats to the floor. I knew immediately,’ she wrote. Taylor was my first concert so many years ago. Honestly such a full circle moment.’