[imagesource:instagram/taylorswift]

Taylor Swift’s Brazilian fans were left angry, disappointed, and grieving after the three-day Rio de Janeiro leg of the pop superstar’s Eras Tour, which concludes Monday night.

AP News reports that the tour was marred by the deaths of two people, muggings and a dangerous heat wave.

Before the show last Friday, fans lined up for hours outside the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium where temperatures soared to 41 degrees Celsius, with a heat index of nearly 59C.

Inside the stadium, concertgoers complained of unbearable heat and some said they had difficulty accessing water. There were even reports that people weren’t allowed to bring their own water into the facility and then had to battle crowds to buy overpriced water, the supply of which was fast dwindling.

Taylor was even seen struggling to breathe in the heat:

@raretourgomes I’m glad Taylor postponed tonight’s show, she wasn’t well yesterday either💔#taylorswift #theerastour #videoedit #celebrity #capcut #foryou ♬ som original – 🙁

At this time, 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides Machado fell ill and died later that evening at a hospital, while other fans reported fainting from extreme heat, being mugged or getting caught up in a police raid.

Rio’s Municipal Health Department said Benevides, who, according to a friend, passed out during Swift’s second song, “Cruel Summer,” experienced cardiorespiratory arrest, but the exact cause of her death is not yet known. Rio’s Forensic Medical Institute examined the body Saturday and said additional laboratory tests had to be conducted, the online news site G1 reported.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Swift said Benevides’ death left her with a “shattered heart.”

Then, the second death happened when 25-year-old Gabriel Mongenot Santana Milhomem Santos was stabbed to death on a Copacabana beach at about 3AM on Monday after travelling from the country’s centre-west region to see Swift.

Other fans reported burn injuries as they were rushed through security forcing them to fall on the hot metallic floors. Despite these horrendous conditions, and tens of thousands of fans spending hours lining up in the heat, the swifties remained.

There’s no breaking a Swifty’s desire to see their idol, even if it leads to tragedy.

@sindywithansofficial Sharing my experience from N1 of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in Rio, Brazil I hope cities and organizers realize the dangers of poor planning especially in heat waves Sending my love to all the fans out there that attended #riotstheerastour #tstheerastour #taylorswift #riodejaneiro #brazil ♬ original sound – Sindy with an S

Only Saturday night’s show was eventually postponed to Monday. Swift announced on Instagram that it was necessary “due to the extreme temperatures in Rio”, but one fan who identified herself as Julia Alvarenga said she was upset that this didn’t happen sooner.

“My friend, can you see how much I’m sweating, how all the pores in my body are dilated from the sweat?” Alvarenga asked, visibly angry, in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. She then pointed to her waist, highlighting the extreme measures she had taken to attend a concert for which she knew she would stand in line for hours. “I’m wearing a diaper, a geriatric diaper,” she says, urging the artist to appear. “Come on stage, I want to see you!”

The extremity of it doesn’t end. When fans left this concert, videos shared on social media showed groups of pickpockets robbing fans of their belongings.

When they tried to take refuge inside a Burger King, ducking for cover under tables and behind the counter in the kitchen area, heavily armed police raided the scene. Those who were able to escape in taxis were overcharged by the drivers.

While this might be “not so unusual to Rio residents” it does not at all excuse it. As South Africans we know all too well how terrifying this complacency towards violence and danger can be. Nobody should be subjected to such conditions.

[sources:apnews&time]