Taylor Swift has said she is “devastated” after the death of a fan on the first night of the Rio de Janeiro leg of ‘The Eras Tour’, with many calling for better concert safety.
Swift posted an Instagram story addressing the death of 23 year old Ana Clara Benevides.
She 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”.
The fan, named by Brazilian newspaper Fohla de S Paulo, had fainted before Taylor’s concert and suffered a cardiac arrest.
Swift briefly haulted the concert during the evermore set to ensure fans could be given water and was later seen throwing a bottle of water to fans in the crowd during her performance of ‘All Too Well’.
This has garnered emotional responses from those in attendance and the wider concertgoing community with calls for better concert safety.
It has been reported that fans were not allowed to bring their own water bottles to the venue and many fans were left unable to purchase some inside the venue due to unreasonable costs.
Camping overnight before concerts has become a dangerous practice, with venues such as Glasgow’s OVO Hydro warning on their official website that ‘queuing/camping overnight on Campus is not permitted – the safety of the public attending events on our campus is our highest priority!”.
Artists such as Harry Styles and Paramore have recently had to pause sets to ensure fan safety after cases of fainting in the crowd – with eight fans reported to have fainted during a Styles gig in Bogota, Colombia.
While progress has been made to tackle issues at concerts, more must be made to ensure another tragedy like Ana Clara Benevides does not happen again.
Featured Image Credit: Taylor Swift Productions
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