Sandra
Heat exhaustion was the reason for the death of a Brazilian fan who attended a concert by singer Taylor Swift in November, according to a forensics report obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
According to the report by Rio’s Forensic Medical Institute, Ana Clara Benevides, 23, fainted during Swift’s second song in the Nov. 17 concert in Rio de Janeiro, “Cruel Summer,” and died hours later at a local hospital. The temperatures in the city that day were around 40 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit).
The report stated that Benevides’ exposure to heat led to a cardiorrespiratory arrest and that she did not have any preexisting conditions or substance abuse that could have been the cause of her death.
The forensics expert who analyzed her body said in the document she had “serious compromise of her lungs and sudden death” due to the heat.
One of Benevides’ friends, who was also at the concert, told local media outlets in November that they had been given water while waiting to enter the stadium.
Organizers T4F said in a statement that the company had “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 their own water to the concert.
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 our 40 years in the business, this company had never registered a tragic episode” like Benevides’ death due to extreme heat, T4F said.
The office of Rio’s public prosecutor has opened a criminal investigation. Rio police said in a statement on Wednesday that after the forensics report is analyzed “representatives of the company organizing the event will be called to testify.”
Benevides’ death shook many in Brazil. She had taken her first flight to travel from the country’s center-west region to see her favorite singer.
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.”
