Street attacks and murders surge as authorities in Rio ‘lose control’ ahead of Olympics
Skyrocketing crime rates and police forces ill-equipped to respond could spell trouble
The Rio Olympics were branded the most dangerous games ever last night after shock figures revealed a crime explosion.
A Sun probe obtained latest crime statistics showing rates of murders and muggings are rocketing as 500,000 foreign visitors arrive for the sporting spectacle.
Street robberies have shot up 81 percent in a year, new statewide figures show with homicides are up a staggering 38 percent.
The troubled Games begin on Friday amid concerns over filthy athletes’ accommodation, sewage spills, traffic and public transport chaos, terror threats and the head-shrinking Zika virus.
But latest crime figures for the month of June have revealed huge increases which add to mounting anxieties.
Athletes and fans have already been attacked on the streets of the city, where police budgets have recently been slashed by 30 percent following Brazil’s economic meltdown.
Brazil has nearly 60,000 murders a year – more than some warzones – and boasts 21 of the world’s 50 most dangerous cities and 88,000 security forces have now been brought in to keep order.
The soaring crime figures were revealed yesterday after Rio officials declared a “state of public calamity” in June as the government was on the verge of collapse.
In that single month there were 17,116 robberies in Rio state and 376 murders compared to corresponding figures of 10,678 and and 272 for the same month last year.
Street robberies were up from 4,421 to 8,011, mobile phone robberies up from 896 to 1,618 and killings by police up from 44 to 74.
A games insider said last night: “The figures are very worrying a suggest authorities have lost control - these could be the most dangerous games ever.”
“It will be a worry to visitors and organisers with so many potential foreign victims arriving in the city.”
Police killed an average of two people a day in Rio in June, a 40 percent rise on last year. Last year British police killed just three.
Police officers have gone unpaid and the government cannot even afford to buy them petrol for patrol cars, office supplies – or even toilet paper.
Athletes have already been attacked. Australian Paralympic champion Liesl Tesch and sailor Sarah Ross were mugged by two men with a handgun at a bus stop.
Tesch said: “It’s a dangerous city,”
The Australian team even had Zika-protective shirts and a laptop stolen after they evacuated the Olympic Village because of a fire alarm.
Witnesses saw men in firemen uniforms carrying away the gear.
And China has issued a security alert to its athletes, officials and journalists after a series of thefts and robberies.
Visitors are being urged to avoid crime-prone areas, leave luxury watches at home and never to talk on mobile phones on the street.
Rio’s security has collapsed after police success in taking back control of many favela slums from ruthless drug gangs - who are now back in control.
In June 20 masked gunmen stormed a hospital in the city centre to free an alleged drugs boss who was under arrest there.
Police could not call for backup during the shootout, during which one person died and two were injured, as the force did not have a working helicopter available.
The Souza Aguiar hospital is one of five that treat tourists during the Olympics.