A Taylor Swift fan who attended a show in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year died in the middle of the concert. Now, a forensic report found that her cause of death was due to heat exhaustion.
The 23-year-old fan, Ana Clara Benevides, was attending the concert at Estadio Nilton Santos on November 17. According to a forensic report by Rio’s Forensic Medical Institute, obtained by the Associated Press, Benevides passed out just two songs into the show during “Cruel Summer.”
The report found that Benevides’ heat exposure led to a cardiorrespiratory arrest.
A forensic analyst noted in the report that the heat caused “serious compromise of her lungs and sudden death.” It also found that Benevides did not have any preexisting conditions or substance abuse that could have led to her death.
Paramedics were called to the scene, and she was transported a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead hours later.
The day of the show, temperatures reached about 40 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit), and 60,000 fans were lined-up outside of the arena for hours. Fans complained that the venue staff did not provide enough water to guests, and attendees were unable to bring their own water bottles into the stadium.
The show’s promoter, T4F, released a statement, claiming that they did not stop fans from bringing water inside the venue. They said the company “followed the best practices,” complied with “demand from authorities,” and “distributed thousands of bottles of water” to fans.
Following the forensic report, Rio’s public prosecutor opened a criminal investigation into Benevides’ death, and Rio police said that the representatives of the event organizer will be called in to testify.
Swift commented on the tragic night, writing in a handwritten note shared on Instagram that it “shattered” her heart.
“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 ahead of her next show. “I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my heart goes out to her family and friends.”
