Tourists held up on Rio’s pilgrim trail

SÃO PAULO: Dozens of tourists hiking to the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro were held at gunpoint for up to two hours in a mass robbery.

Police said on Friday that at least three assailants set up the ambush on the trail, which cuts through a dense forest that borders a slum on the outskirts of the city and has been the site of numerous muggings.

More than 30 people were robbed – about half foreigners from Asia, Europe and elsewhere in South America – as the thieves took hostages and waited for more tourists to arrive. They took cellphones, cameras, wedding rings and credit cards, police said. Nobody was hurt.

But the incident dealt a blow to Rio’s increasingly lawless reputation and came just days after the inauguration of President Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain who made battling crime a centrepiece of his campaign.

Bolsonaro’s promises to crack down on crime by arming average citizens has proved popular among voters, though experts warn it could increase unrest.

The city lost over $200 million in tourism revenue in 2017 due to crime and violence, according to the National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism. |