Taylor Swift fan who attended show where woman died shares terrifying first-hand account
A Taylor Swift fan has spoken out after attending the singer's Rio De Janeiro concert earlier this month.
The gig took place Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos on 17 November, where student Ana Clara Benevides Machado lost her life.
The 23-year-old was treated at the stadium before being rushed off to hospital.
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But Machado sadly died just an hour later. Her cause of death is still to be determined, but it's believed she fainted and suffered a cardiac arrest.
In the wake of the young woman's untimely passing, fellow Swift concert-goers have been sharing their own experiences on the night where the spoke of the sweltering conditions.
It's believed that it was around 40 degrees celsius [104F] on the night, with some concert-goers even having to be treated for second-degree burns.
Now Swiftie Derick Reliea has shared his version of events from the night.
In an almost ten minute-long video shared to TikTok, Derick recalled the 'chaos'.
He began his video: "I had a heatstroke at the Taylor Swift concert at Rio De Janeiro concert on Friday, and now that I see that Ana Benevides' father is looking to investigate the situation, I think that it's important to share my story and shed some light into how the venue has handling medical emergencies on that day."
Further on in the clip, Derick goes on to recall not being allow to take any water into the venue with him despite the sweltering conditions.
Eventually he was forced to throw away the bottles before entering the stadium.
But Derick (and thousands of other fans) were quickly in need of water once inside.
"I was desperately in need of water pretty quickly because it’s such a hot day and after running so much I was sweating intensely, and also we’re just in a crowd of people in this insane heat," he explained.
"I think they said 40 degrees celsius [104F], but the atmosphere felt closer to 60 degrees celsius [140F]."
Derick went on to allege that security guards were 'ignoring' him while he was in the crowd when he asked for some water.
He was near the front of the stage at the time and, without any water, Derick said he began to 'freak out' and thought he was going to faint.
Eventually Derick had the leave the concert after coming to the decision that 'this isn’t worth [his] life'.
With the help of fellow fans, he made it over the barricade and was escorted out by a security guard on the other side who took him to one of the vendors to get water.
But he said that he was 'barely vocal' at this point due to being so hydrated.
According to Derick, he ended up having to around $8 for a bottle of water.
"The purpose of the story, really, is that my life was not safe there at that concert," he went on to say.
"I was undergoing a medical emergency and their only concern was price-gouging me for water."
Derick added: "It kills me to know that the same people were handling me were responsible for [Ana Clara's] life."
Following her death, the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro's consumer delegations department is said to be investigating the company behind Swift's Brazilian shows who are facing allegations of 'crime of danger to life or health', People reports.
Swift subsequently took to Instagram, to say she was 'overwhelmed by grief' following the tragedy.
The singer then postponed Saturday's (18 November) show 'due to the extreme temperatures in Rio'.
Topics: Celebrity, Music, Taylor Swift, TikTok
Niamh Shackleton