Taylor Swift has postponed tonight’s Eras Tour show due to ‘extreme temperatures’ – which comes after the tragic death of one of her fans.
Before Friday night’s concert in Rio de Janeiro, 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides died of a cardiac arrest and an estimated 1,000 fans fainted.
Now Taylor has decided to cancel tonight’s performance in order to protect more of her fans from harm and released an emotional Instagram statement from her dressing room.
It read: “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 has to and always will come first.”
On Friday, Taylor put on a great show for thousands of her devoted followers in Rio de Janeiro as part of her much-loved Eras Tour.
Sadly, it’s what fans were forced to endure off-stage which is making all the headlines.
Hours before Taylor performed, legions of concert-goers joined lengthy lines outside the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos for hours due to the event’s ‘first come first serve’ seating policy.
The jostle to get into a prime position to see Taylor meants Swifites were stood outside waiting with little-to-no protection in an unprecendeted heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 100F.
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Tragedy struck before the concert began as 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides died of a cardiac arrest.
According to Brazillian media, Ana arrived at 11am and fainted shortly before the show began at 7.30pm, while waiting with her cousin, Estela Benevides
She was transferred to the Salgado Filho Municipal Hospital, where doctors at the scene were unable to revive her and she died as a result of “cardiorespiratory arrest.”
After her death, many devastated fans blasted the organisers for banning water bottles from being brought inside the stadium, with one person writing “they should be passing [water] out for free in that weather” on Instagram.
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It got so bad that Taylor was forced to intervene on multiple occassions, stopping the show at one stage when fans started chating for water.
Taylor wrote a very emotional statement on her Instagram page as she spoke about Ana’s tragic death.
She wrote: “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 this.
“There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
Taylor 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.
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