50 minutes ago, New York – the city that never sleeps – was shaken by an unprecedented tragedy. The most luxurious hotel in Manhattan suddenly caught fire due to an electrical short circuit, turning the entire tower into a sea of ​​red flames in the night. And in that suffocating fire, witnesses saw The Weeknd – the million-dollar singer with a voice that haunts millions of hearts – collapse in the midst of billowing black smoke.

Explosions rang out continuously, broken glass fell like rain from the upper floors. People on the street screamed, many fans waiting for their idol outside the hotel lobby cried in despair. “I saw his figure through the glass door, smoke covered it, then he fell down. I was helpless,” a witness choked up. Paparazzi, who were on duty, recorded the terrifying moment with continuous flashes, the flashing light piercing through the smoke.

Fire trucks rushed in with the sound of sirens, water hoses sprayed white water but the fire still fiercely engulfed the upper floors. The rescue team rushed in under heavy fireproof gear and found The Weeknd unconscious in the smoke-filled hallway. They dragged him out, placed him on the wet pavement, performed CPR, put on an oxygen mask, and shocked him right in front of hundreds of crying fans. But the monitor only flashed a cold, straight line. A doctor was silent, shaking his head slightly: “There is no hope.”

The motionless body was rushed into an ambulance, the siren blaring through the night, rushing straight to New York–Presbyterian Hospital. The ICU was brightly lit, red alarms were constantly going off, dozens of doctors took turns giving shocks, but the heartbeat never returned. The bad news was confirmed: The Weeknd was gone.

The entire music world was shaken. His family flew in from Canada. His mother fainted as soon as she saw her son’s body covered in a white sheet. Friends in the industry burst into tears on social media: Drake choked up and wrote “My brother, the dream ended too soon”, Billie Eilish posted a black photo with the caption: “Unbelievable”.

Fans around the world poured into the streets. In Toronto, the main square was lit by thousands of candles. In Paris, London, Tokyo, hundreds gathered outside the concert halls where he had performed, singing “Blinding Lights” in tears. The hashtags #PrayForTheWeeknd and #GoodbyeWeeknd climbed straight to the top of Twitter with more than 250 million shares in just a few hours.

The grief did not stop there. As thousands of fans crowded into Times Square to pay their respects, a metal fence collapsed, injuring dozens of people, creating chaos for the second time in the same night. Rescue helicopters were mobilized but one had to make an emergency landing due to engine failure, adding to the chaos.

The world press simultaneously headlined: “The brightest light on stage has gone out in a sea of ​​fire”. The US President sent official condolences, the Canadian Prime Minister declared a 3-day national mourning to remember “the singer who brought Canadian music to the world”.

At the scene, fans were still sitting on the street, hugging each other and crying in the rain, small candles flickering in the wind. A young girl sobbed: “He promised to return to the stage next summer. Now… there is only silence.”

The Weeknd – who once reached the peak of music with millions of records sold, sold-out stages around the planet – passed away in a night of terrible fire and smoke. But in the hearts of billions of people, that voice will forever resonate.