Taylor Swift fans are sharing pictures of “second-degree” and “third-degree” burns they say are due to contact with metal flooring and fences at the star’s Eras show in Rio.
One said the floors had turned into a “hotplate”: “I went to the Nilson Santos Stadium for the Taylor Swift concert and left with 3 second-degree burns. The metal plates that covered the floor of the premium track turned into a HOT PLATE at 40°C.”
Another described the concert as the “worst experience of their life” as they returned home covered in bruises and burns, before even seeing the Lover singer.
Some criticised the organisers for installing metal flooring when they knew it was going to be so hot.
“This is disgusting. They put metal on the floor knowing the temperature in rio and people got SECOND GRADE BURNS,” they wrote alongside pictures of burned hands and legs.
Over the weekend Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Rio de Janeiro was struck by tragedy when a 23-year-old fan, Ana Clara Benevides Machado passed away after a cardiac arrest before the star took to the stage.
Machado, 23, had sought help at the stadium after feeling unwell. She was transferred to hospital but died one hour later.
Swift issued a statement via her Instagram story acknowledging the tragedy over the weekend.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a 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 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…”
Videos went viral on social media showcasing Swift panting and apparently struggling to catch her breath at the same concert, one even showing the star shortening one of the lines to retain her breath while red in the face.
She later postponed her Saturday show to Monday due to “extreme temperatures”.
“I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium … The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio,” Swift posted on Instagram.
She said the safety and well-being of her fans, fellow performers and crew “has to and will always come first.”
Rio and most of Brazil experienced record-breaking temperatures last week amid a dangerous heatwave.
