RIO DE JANEIRO (NEWSnet/AP) — Heat exhaustion is the cause of death of a Brazilian fan who attended a concert of singer Taylor Swift in November, a forensics report obtained by The Associated Press shows.
Ana Clara Benevides, 23, feinted during Swift’s second song in the Nov. 17 concert in Rio de Janeiro and died hours later at a local hospital. Temperatures in the city that day were at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
The report by Rio’s Forensic Medical Institute said Benevides’ heat exposure led to a cardiorrespiratory arrest. It also said she did not have an existing conditio that could have led to her death.
The forensics expert who analyzed her body said she had “serious compromise of her lungs and sudden death” due to heat.
Many fans accused organizers of failing to deliver enough water supplies for the more than 60,000 attending the show, at Nilton Santos Stadium. They said they were not allowed to take their own water into the stadium.
One of Benevides’ friends, who also attended the concert, told local media outlets in November they had been given water while waiting to enter the stadium.
Organizers T4F said in a statement the company “followed the best practices,” complied with “every demand from authorities” and “distributed thousands of bottles of water” to fans. TF4 also denied it did not allow people to bring water.
TF4 also said Benevides “was promptly cared for by members of a rescue team and sent (to the hospital) in an intensive-care unit ambulance.”
In a statement posted on Instagram after the death, Swift said the case had left her with a “shattered heart.”
Benevides’s father, José Weiny Machado, told news website G1 he “never doubted the cause of death was the heat.”
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