Taylor Swift Eras tour in chaos as fan dies and crowds left yelling for water in Brazil heatwave

Taylor Swift postponed her concert in Rio last night after a fan died before the show, as Faye Barker reports

Taylor Swift's Rio de Janeiro concert was thrown into chaos, with a 23-year-old female fan dying ahead of the show and crowds clamouring for water amid record breaking heat.

The Cruel Summer singer postponed her Saturday night show in Rio de Janeiro due to “extreme temperatures”.

It comes after concert organisers, Time4Fun, said in a statement to Instagram that 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides Machado, who attended Swift’s Friday night show in Rio, had been taken to hospital, where she died an hour later.

Swift, 33, posted to her Instagram story and said: “I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium.

“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.”

The cause of death for the young woman, who sought medical attention at Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium during Friday’s show, has not yet been announced.

Fans and politicians reacted to her death with outrage, speculating it was linked to extreme heat.

Fans who attended the Friday show said they were not allowed to bring water bottles into the stadium even though Rio and most of Brazil have had record-breaking temperatures this week amid a long and dangerous heatwave.

The daytime high in Rio on Friday was 39.1 degrees Celsius but it felt much hotter.

Elizabeth Morin, 26, who recently moved to Rio from Los Angeles, described “sauna-like” conditions inside the stadium.

“It was extremely hot. My hair got so wet from sweat as soon as I came in,” she said. “There was a point at which I had to check my breathing to make sure I wasn’t going to pass out.”

Ms Morin said she drank plenty of water but saw “a good amount of people looking distressed” and others “yelling for water.”

She said she was able to get water from the sidelines of the area she was standing in, but that water was a lot harder to access from other parts of the stadium, “especially if you were concerned about losing your specific position.”

During the show, Swift paused her performance and asked from the stage for water to be brought to a group of people who had successfully caught the singer's attention, according to Morin.

“They were holding up their phones saying ‘We need water,’” she recalled.

Two concert goers interviewed by the Associated Press said they witnessed people feeling unwell from the heat during the show.

Swift had shared her condolences with the friends and family of the woman who died on Saturday.

In a note shared to Instagram, Swift said: “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.

“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.”

She added: “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 this tour to Brazil.”

Swift is currently on the South American leg of The Eras Tour, which has further dates in Sao Paulo as well as Rio.

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