“We recognize that in addition to all the actions we have taken, there are others we could have taken.”
On November 17th, a fan collapsed and later died at a Taylor Swift concert due to the extreme heat in Rio de Janeiro. After Swift herself had already commented on the tragic event, the organizer is now speaking out – and admits that they did not take enough measures. However, the blame does not lie solely with him, but also with the authorities, explains Serafim Abreu, managing director of the responsible company T4F (Time for fun). The 23-year-old fan collapsed due to dehydration; it was more than 40 degrees Celsius in the city at the time.
More measures would have been needed
“I would like to apologize to everyone who did not have the best possible experience,” Abreu said. “We recognize that in addition to all the actions we have taken, there are others we could have taken.” He had a two and a half minute one on Thursday November 24th Instagram Reel uploaded in which he went into detail about the recent events. In his opinion, possible steps in the right direction would have been to set up free water distribution islands, provide shaded areas inside and outside the stadium and start concerts later. The latter was already implemented at Taylor Swift’s subsequent concerts.
Water guidelines changed
On the website and the Instagram page Together with Serafim Abreu’s video, T4F also provided information for the following concerts changed measures against the heat. The next three Swift shows will take place in Sao Paulo on November 24th, 25th and 26th. Among other things, tightly closed plastic bottles with water can now be carried into the stadium, which was not the case before. Fans can also take small, packaged foods such as granola bars with them. Abreu explained that the previous water bottle ban was not established by T4F: “The taking of plastic water bottles into stadiums, for example, was banned by an official decision and only released after the events of last weekend.”
It is currently assumed that Ana Clara Benevides suffered several heart attacks before her death and blood pooled in her lungs. However, a reliable result of the autopsy can only be expected after around 30 days, report forensic experts Brazilian newspaper “O Globo”. They are currently trying to find out whether there are inflammations in the young woman’s tissues that were found due to the weather conditions. In addition, toxicological tests are carried out.