Brazilian fan who collapsed at Taylor Swift concert in Rio de Janeiro died of heat exhaustion, says report

A Taylor Swift fan who collapsed at the American pop singer’s Nov. 17 concert in Rio de Janeiro died of heat exhaustion, according to a post-mortem examination conducted by Brazilian medical examiners.

Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, attended Swift's first Eras Tour show in the Rio on Nov. 17.

The concert was impacted by an unusually high heat wave, which saw temperatures as high as 102 degrees, with the "felt" temperature reaching 139 degrees, Brazilian authorities said.

Despite the extreme heat, authorities allowed the concert to proceed, and an estimated 60,000 people attended the show at the Rio based Nilton Santos stadium. 

Video footage appeared to show that Swift herself was having a hard time with the unusually high temperatures, and later said she was “devastated” by news of the fan's death when she found out.

In a statement on Instagram, Swift she said she was “devastated” over the 23-year old’s death, and that her heart was "shattered."

She added that, “She was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”

“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,” she wrote. “I can't even tell you how devastated I am by this.”

The Pennsylvania native turned pop star cancelled her Nov. 18 show after Benevides Machado died but went ahead with the remainder of her Eras tour as scheduled.

Benevides Machado, a university student studying psychology had ventured more than a thousand miles all the way from the city of Rondonópolis to Rio to attend the concert. 

The young girl’s friend, Daniele Menin, told Brazil’s G1 news site that her 23-year-old pal collapsed during Swift's second song.

She was treated by paramedics on the scene who struggled to save her, but she died after arriving at a nearby hospital from a cardiovascular shock and bleeding of the lungs.

According to the post-mortem report, the 23-year-old had a sudden death. 

The girl’s father told Brazilian media he was confident his daughter died because of the heatwave and the fact she was outside for so long. 

One of the concert goers, Nathalia Barbieri, who spoke to BBC, said she witnessed Benevides Machado being treated by medics after she herself fainted from the extreme heat and had to report to a first aid post.

"I was just grateful I was alive," Nathalia told the British press outlet, according to the BBC report.

One of the issues that has surfaced since the concert is the controversy over how the show’s promoters handled the high temperatures.

According to reports at the time, the show’s organizers, T4F, prohibited fans from coming into the concert with their own water bottles, a tactic used by some venues to drive up concession sales.

After those attending the concert were banned from taking their own water bottles, Brazil's Justice Minister Flávio Dino ordered the company organizing the Eras Tour in Brazil, T4F Entertainment, to offer fans with free drinking water and said that stadium officials needed to allow fans to take their own water bottles to the concert. 

In a statement released to the Brazilian public, T4F said “thousands of cups of water were distributed" during the concert and that fans were permitted to "bring in disposable cups of water without any limitation.”

So far there is no additional information as to whether Benevides Machado’s family plans to file a wrongful death claim against any other parties.

At the time of the incident, Swift said she could not talk about it on stage because she felt “overwhelmed by grief … I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends."

The singer said the heartbreaking tragedy was "the last thing" she expected when she took her tour to the South American country.

During her performance of “All Too Well,” it was so hot that Swift threw a bottle of water into the crowd.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes had tweeted that what happened was unacceptable and specifically asked the show's producers to distribute extra water and offer additional emergency services.