One and a half months before the start of the Olympic Games, the city of Rio de Janeiro is unable to get its security problems under control. One person died and two were injured in an armed attack on the city's largest public hospital on Sunday. The latest attack once again casts a shadow over the security situation in Brazil's Olympic metropolis.
According to local police, the attack was carried out by a group of criminals who wanted to free a drug dealer nicknamed "Fat Family" from the Souza Aguiar hospital. According to the news channel CNN, the patient was under police surveillance after being arrested in a shootout a week earlier. According to the state news agency Agencia Brasil, more than 20 masked men had forced their way into the hospital with weapons and hand grenades. Their rescue operation is said to have been "successful". The hospital is one of the five hospitals that are also intended for visitors to the Olympic Games in August in the event of an emergency. It is close to the Maracana Stadium, where the opening ceremony will take place.
In recent days, there have also been further attacks on athletes and coaches as well as brazen thefts of equipment. The situation also seems to be coming to a head because although more and more teams are in Rio for training six weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, the planned increased security measures are apparently not yet taking effect.
Last week, two British ribs were stolen from the Niteroi Yacht Club. The club, whose most famous member is five-time Olympic medallist Torben Grael, had even been hit by bullets from a nearby shooting a few weeks earlier. Two British trainers had found the stolen ribs the following day as they were being gutted. The incident was reported by "Sailing Anarchy". The radios, tanks and cables had already disappeared; the outboards had just been dismantled. According to "Sailing Anarchy", the coaches threatened the thieves with a call to the police. Whereupon they laughed and one of them is said to have asked: "Do you really think this will help you?" Instead, the coaches were robbed of their wallets and rucksacks. However, one of the coaches managed to take a photo of the thieves. Employees of the Rio Yacht Club are said to have identified one of the men as a top drug dealer. According to the club employees, the coaches were very lucky. "Sailing Anarchy's" comment: "If the Olympic fleet could survive the next two months without loss of life, they would be very lucky."
Last weekend, members of the Australian Paralympics team were also attacked and robbed while cycling in a park. The victims were 2012 Paralympics winner Liesl Tesch and team member Sarah Ross. The two were travelling on bicycles in a park near their hotel when they were attacked by two men, one of whom threatened them with a gun. Wheelchair user Tesch reported: "I was taken to the ground. One man took my bike and the other took Sarah's bike. We are both shocked, but physically okay." Last month, Spanish Olympic champion Fernando Echavarri and two companions were robbed at gunpoint. In December 2014, two British Olympic sailors experienced a similar incident on their way home from training to their hotel.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
