An individual took bus passengers hostage Tuesday at the main bus station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and left at least two people shot and wounded, police said.
The area has been cordoned off and agents from the elite Special Operations Battalion (BOPE) unit are “conducting negotiations on site,” Rio military police explained in a statement.
According to the press, around fifteen people are being held hostage.
No Rio de Janeiro, criminosos mantêm refens dentro de um ônibus na Rodoviária Novo Rio, onde anunciaram um assalto.
Agentes do Bope e do Corpo de Bombeiros estão no local.
Saiba but.
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“A man hit two people with gunshots and took hostages on a bus at the Novo Rio bus station,” police detailed, adding that the injured were taken to a hospital.
“Everyone is desperate, we don’t know what will happen”
Images from the GloboNews channel show that the greatest confusion reigns in this large bus station in the center of Rio, from which coaches depart serving other regions of Brazil.
“A man drew a gun, started shooting and entered the bus.
I have two friends on this bus, everyone is desperate, we don’t know what will happen,” said a witness on this channel.
In 2000, a hostage-taking of bus passengers in a residential area left two people dead.
The episode was broadcast for hours live on television, causing immense excitement, and inspired a film, “Parada 174”.
More recently, in 2019, a man was shot dead by police after holding around thirty bus passengers hostage on the huge bridge linking Rio de Janeiro to the town of Niteroi, a nerve center of traffic in the region.