A model participating in Brazil’s Sao Paulo Fashion Week has died after getting sick and falling on the catwalk.
A statement from organizers said that model Tales Soares, 26, took ill Saturday while in a parade for fashion brand Ocksa. A medical team attended to him on the catwalk, and Soares was later taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Some reports said Soares, also known as Tales Cotta, tripped on his shoelace and fell. According to daily Folha de S. Paulo, people in the crowd initially thought his fall was part of a performance.
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Photos in the newspaper showed the model lying face down on the catwalk with paramedics around him.
Relatives of the model say he was apparently healthy.
Officials say an autopsy will determine what killed Soares.
Heloisa Cotta is denying rumours on social media that her 26-year-old son suffered health problems such as epilepsy or anorexia. His sister also said he didn’t use drugs.
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Cotta said Soares is being interred Monday in his home state of Minas Gerais.
Organizers for Sao Paulo Fashion Week posted a statement on Twitter, saying: “We are sorry for this loss and give our sincere apologies to Tales’ family.”
His management company, Base Management, remembered the 26-year-old model for his “exemplary behaviour.”
In an Instagram post, the company said that the model never had or complained about any health problems. They also said he was a vegetarian who had a healthy diet.
Base Management said that Soares would “always be in our hearts and our memories.”
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Soares’ agent, Rogério Campaneli, told the FocusOn News Agency that he believes “he died on the catwalk.”
“Everything happened so suddenly and unexpectedly,” Campaneli added.
“It was all so fast. He kissed a friend behind the scenes who was following him, walked out confidently as usual, then suddenly stumbled, lost his footing and fell.”
Model Rosa Fernanda expressed her condolences on Instagram.
“In such a short time, we learn so much from each other, thank you for everything. I love you forever, in my heart,” she wrote in an Instagram story on Sunday.
“You will always be in my heart,” she added in a post on Monday. “You took a little piece of each of us, but as always, generous, left a little of yours.”
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Soares spoke about LGBTQ rights on his social media pages.
He shared a photo of himself overlaid with the rainbow flag with the words “take pride.”
—With files from the Associated Press