Police gunfight with favela gang traps 200 tourists on hilltop

Around 200 people were trapped at the top of a popular Rio de Janeiro tourist spot during a police operation in the Vidigal favela of the city, according to local media. The trail leading to the top of Morro Dois Irmãos, popular for its views over Ipanema Beach, begins east of the neighbourhood. Officers from the Public Prosecutor's Office of Bahia...

Around 200 people were trapped at the top of a popular Rio de Janeiro tourist spot during a police operation in the Vidigal favela of the city, according to local media.

The trail leading to the top of Morro Dois Irmãos, popular for its views over Ipanema Beach, begins east of the neighbourhood.

Officers from the Public Prosecutor's Office of Bahia and Rio's Polícia Civil were seeking to arrest alleged members of the Comando Vermelho gang they believed to be hiding in Vidigal, broadcaster TV Globo reported.

The main access route to the trail was blocked as the officers and suspected gang members exchanged fire, leaving the alarmed tourists stranded.