Taylor Swift‘s Brazil concert promoters are facing a heartbreaking demand from the father of Ana Clara Benevides, the 23-year-old fan who died at the singer’s concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Friday.
Benevides’ father Weiny Machado, 53, told the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo he wants the promoters to clarify whether concertgoers were prohibited from bringing water into the show Friday.
‘I want it to be found out whether they were in fact prohibited from bringing water, whether there was negligence in providing assistance,’ Machado told the paper. ‘I lost my only daughter, a happy and intelligent girl. She was about to graduate in psychology next April, saving money.
‘I have no words to express my pain. She left home to fulfill a dream and came back dead.’
Ana Clara Benevides’ cousin Estela Benevides told the paper that Ana fainted ahead of her death on Friday while she was in the front row of the Estádio Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro amid triple-digit temperatures to see Swift, 33, perform as part of her Eras Tour.
Ana fainted while she was in the front row for Taylor’s show and was ‘resuscitated at the stadium for about 40 minutes’ before suffering a second cardiac arrest while on the way to a hospital, the paper reported.
Ana died shortly after arriving at a local hospital, with the paper reporting the heat index at the stadium ‘reached 60C’ – 140F – and firefighters reportedly ‘counted a thousand faintings during the event.’
Fans filled social media with claims they had been prohibited from bringing water bottles into the stadium.
And in multiple fan clips posted online over the weekend, Swift could be seen stopping her show several times to ask for water on behalf of her fans, who were chanting for refreshment at one point.
A clip also showed Swift struggling for breath after performing her hit Bejeweled.
Swift said in her announcement on Instagram Saturday that she was cancelling her second scheduled gig at the stadium.
‘I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium,’ Swift said. ‘The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio.
‘The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers and crew always has to come first.’
Hours earlier, Swift – who returned to the stage Sunday – posted another Instagram Story to tell fans she was ‘overwhelmed’ by grief over Ana’s death.
