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19th November 2023
05:19pm GMT
The father of a young Taylor Swift fan who died hours before the popstar's show in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night has broken his silence.
Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, died hours before the show had started.
Swift addressed the news herself, posting to her Instagram story before the start of the show:
"I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with 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.
“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.
“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.”
A cause of death is yet to be announced.
Following the tragic news of her death, Benevides' father has now given an interview about his late daughter in which he revealed that those attending the concert were told they couldn't bring water into the venue despite the ongoing heatwave in Brazil, where temperatures are in the 30 plus territory.
Weiny Machado spoke to the Folha de São Paulo newspaper and said: "I lost my only daughter, a happy and intelligent girl. She was about to graduate in Psychology next April.
"I want it to be found out whether they were in fact prohibited from bringing water, whether there was negligence in providing assistance."
Swift cancelled her show on Saturday in light of the ongoing heatwave and was seen struggling to catch her breath on occasion on Friday.
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