City pledges safe Olympics after gangsters down chopper

Authorities in Rio de Janeiro defended the city’s ability to control violence ahead of the World Cup and Olympic Games after drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter, killing two officers.

The helicopter was brought down during a battle between rival gangs yesterday, the worst violence the Brazilian city had seen in months.

It came just two weeks after Rio was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Ten suspected drug traffickers were also killed during the fighting in a shanty town and two bystanders were injured.

Bullets flying from the Morro dos Macacos (Monkey Hill in Portuguese) slum in northern Rio de Janeiro tore into the helicopter and hit the pilot in the leg as he hovered above the shootout, causing him to lose control and crash.

Two officers died, while the pilot and three other policemen escaped after the craft hit the ground on a football field and burst into flames.

The pilot and a second officer received burns and bullet wounds. The other two officers also were burned, one seriously, said Mario Sergio Duarte, head of Rio state’s military police.

Officials did not know whether the gangs targeted the helicopter or whether it was hit by stray bullets, but the event underscored security concerns that have dogged Brazil’s second-largest city for decades.

Despite the mayhem, officials said Rio could safely host the Olympics in 2016 and the World Cup in 2014, which will stage key games in Rio.

“In choosing the city, they already knew about the work that’s being carried out and will continue in the area of (crime) prevention,” justice minister Tarso Genro told the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency.

Rio state governor Sergio Cabral said Rio’s security challenges could not be cured “by magic in the short term”.

He said money was being poured into programmes to reduce crime and authorities were prepared to mount an overwhelming security presence at Olympic events to ensure safety.

“We told the International Olympic Committee that this won’t be an easy thing and they know that,” Mr Cabral said.

“We can put 40,000 people on the streets – federal, state and municipal police - and pull off the event.”

Police said 10 presumed traffickers were killed during yesterday’s fighting in the slum, including three suspects found dead inside a vehicle.

They said at least eight buses were set on fire in nearby slums as the shootouts raged. Television images showed motorists fleeing for cover as automatic weapons fire crackled in broad daylight amid the worst violence the city has seen in months.

TV images showed flames shooting from the helicopter wreckage, with little more than charred pieces and an intact tail remaining after the fire was doused.

Rio police frequently use helicopters to take on gangs that dominate drug trafficking in the city’s more than 1,000 slums, but were unable to say whether this was the first time one of their helicopters had been shot down by gang members.

The crash happened about five miles south west of one of the zones where the Olympics will be located.

The city was picked on October 2 over Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo to host the games. Rio had been highlighted for security concerns ahead of the International Olympic Committee vote.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and other officials have played down the threat of violence for the Olympics, saying Rio has repeatedly demonstrated it can pull off big events without risk to players and spectators.

Rio held the Pan-American Games in 2007 without major incidents, deploying more than 15,000 specially trained officers to keep the peace.