Rio tightens security after bus stoning

RIO DE JANEIRO: Olympic organisers said yesterday they remained determined to make Rio a safe place despite various incidents, including an attack on an official media bus on Tuesday.

Organisers said that stones were thrown, but firearms were not used, when the bus was hit on its way back from the Deodoro venue cluster to the main media centre of the games in Barra.

Three people were slightly injured as two windows were smashed, but it also appeared as if the driver did not act according to protocol and continue driving, but rather stopped until police arrived.

“We don’t regret saying that our mission is to make Rio the safest city in the world. If we drop the ball we need to get our act together and keep an eye on that mission of making Rio the safest city,” organising committee spokesman Mario Andrada said.

“We can guarantee the safety of journalists, athletes and tourists. It is our prime responsibility.”

Various incidents have been reported during the games, but Rio 2016 security chief Luiz Fernando Correa said that some events were getting too much publicity, while a certain crime rate was also normal for a big city.

“Generally speaking we do have incidents. We always have incidents, it is natural for a big city, a big metropolis,” Correa said.

He said the authorities considered the incident an act of vandalism rather than a deliberate attack. More patrols would be used in the area where Tuesday’s incident occurred. – dpa