A man has been crushed to death while constructing Shakira’s stage for her massive Copacabana concert in Brazil.
The Hips Don’t Lie singer was set to perform in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, May 2, in a huge free concert amid her world tour.
A technician suffered severe injuries to his legs after getting “trapped underneath” a lifting system for the gig. He was pulled free and rushed to hospital.
“Unfortunately, the technician passed away in hospital,” concert organiser Bonus Track said in a statement.
The crew have been working for several weeks to put together the show on Copacabana beach, which could attract more than one million concert goers.
A witness said: “Out of nowhere, we saw people running, and when we looked, the structure was on the ground.
“People were saying that a man had gotten trapped underneath,” local Antonio Marcos Ferreira dos Santos said, according to The Sun.
“People rushed over to pull him out.”
The concert comes after Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, which translates to Women No Longer Cry.
The tour broke the Guinness World Record for the highest-grossing Latin tour of all time. It raked in more than £311 million within the first 86 shows.
It came a year after her album of the same name was released, containing the “diss track” Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 that takes aim at her ex Gerard Pique.
Her uncompromising lyrics include hard lines such as “Lots of time at the gym, but your brain needs a little work too” and “I was out of your league, that’s why you’re with someone just like you.”
She also sings: “You swapped a Ferrari for a [Renault] Twingo, you swapped a Rolex for a Casio.”
Shakira parted ways with the former footballer, with whom she shares two children, in 2022 after 11 years together.
Speaking after their split, she said she “doesn’t need a man” to “complete” her.
“I’ve always been very emotionally dependent [on men] – I have to confess this," she admitted in a 2023 interview.
"I was in love with love. One way or another, I’ve managed to learn it from another perspective and feel that I’ll be fine on my own.”
She continued: “When a woman has to face [hardships] in life, she comes out stronger. When you come out stronger it means you’re learning to recognize your weaknesses and accept your vulnerability.”
Like Piqué, she said she has been primarily focused on her children since the split.
“I feel complete because I feel like I can depend on myself and I have two kids who depend on me,” she said. “I have to be stronger than a lion.”
