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Taylor Swift took to social media and said she was “overwhelmed by grief” after a fan died before her Eras Tour show began in Brazil on Friday.
“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,” Swift wrote in a statement shared to her Instagram Story. “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 continued, “I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because 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.”
It was the first of three concerts in Rio De Janeiro as part of her international world tour, following stops in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Folha de S. Paulo, a Brazilian daily newspaper, reported that Ana Clara Benevides, 23, had fainted and was transferred to a hospital where she later died of cardiorespiratory arrest.
Footage taken during the concert shows Swift had paused the performance to indicate fans who needed water in the audience and at one point could be seen throwing water into the crowd. “There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back,” she said while in the middle of a set. “So whoever is in charge of giving them that, just make sure that happens. Can I get a signal that you know where they are?”
This is a developing story.
