Taylor Swift said she was “overwhelmed by grief” after a fan died shortly before her Brazil Eras Tour show kicked off amid sweltering temperatures.
“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,” she wrote in a letter shared on her Instagram stories early Saturday morning.
“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this.”
She said that she has “very little information” about the fan’s death “other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
“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,” she added.
“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 said.
The fan who tragically passed away is identified as Ana Clara Benevides Machado.
According to ABC News, the cause of death for Ana Clara Benevides Machado has not yet been announced. The office of Rio’s public prosecutor opened a criminal investigation and said Benevides body was being examined.
Concert-goers complained they were not allowed to take water into Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium despite soaring temperatures, according to the ABC News report They went on to say that, federal authorities announced that free water would be made available at all future concerts.
“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,” Taylor Swift wrote on Instagram.
Ana Clara Benevides, the fan that tragically passed away
Photo courtesy Daniele Menin via O Correio News
Instagram post via Taylor Swift