Shootout between police and gang members forces around 200 tourists to be trapped on top of mountain
Hundreds of Brazilian tourists were left stranded atop a mountain near Rio de Janeiro amid a major gang shootout, according to reports.
On Tuesday (21 April), travelers returned to a popular viewpoint near the Brazilian capital a day after a police operation in a nearby favela, as per The Mountain Press.
The shootout reportedly took place while 200 terrified visitors were trying to watch the sunrise from Morro Dois Irmãos, known for its views over Ipanema Beach.
Broadcaster TV Globo reported that officers from the Public Prosecutor's Office of Bahia and Rio's Polícia Civil were out to arrest the alleged members of the Comando Vermelho (The Red Command) gang.
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The latter is considered one of Brazil’s oldest criminal organization, created in a Rio de Janeiro prison in the 1970s, as per the Department of Justice.
Officials believed gang members were hiding out in the Vidigal favela, which Morro Dois Irmãos lies to the east of.
The BBC wrote that the main access route to the famous landmark and popular hiking route was blocked off as police officers and alleged gang members faced off.
It’s understood that both parties exchanged fire, leaving the alarmed tourists standing atop the tourist lookout spot.
One Portugese tourist who was visiting the area to wtach the sun crest over the sea recounted to Globo how her tour guide told her and her sister to get down.
"They did their job. It's always scary, but it was controlled as much as possible. We passed the police on the way, and the situation was already under control,” the woman, named Matilda Oliveiro, claimed.
As per a report from daily newspaper O Dia, tour guides were informed ahead of time that the potential sting would be taking place.
“We were caught by surprise. We were already at the top when we started hearing gunshots, and the guides were already telling us what was happening,” tourist Danielly Nobre told the publication.
“In the end, everything worked out. Everyone went down in a single file, everyone helping, and we managed to finish the trail, see the sunrise, and experience that adrenaline rush,”
Meanwhile Estefânia Andrade, a civil engineer, recalled: “There was a lot of shooting and I didn’t know where it was coming from, if it was going to hit us, if it was close, we really didn’t know. We didn’t know where it was coming from.”
Local media reported that the tourists were able to scramble back down the mountain after about 30 minutes.
Topics: Police, World News, Crime, Gun Crime
Ella Scott