A woman (L) passes out moments after she is released from a bus by a hijacker in the Rio-Niteroi bridge in Rio de Janeiro
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A hijacker armed with what turned out to be a toy gun was shot dead by police in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday after he held a busload of passengers hostage for several hours on a major bridge in peak-hour traffic.
A military police spokesman said the man turned out to be carrying a toy gun. “It was necessary for the sniper to neutralize (the hijacker) and save people on the bus. He (hijacker) died at the scene.”
Dozens of people were trapped on the bus after it was commandeered by the hijacker on a heavily transited bridge connecting Rio with the neighbouring city of Niteroi.
At least six people – four women and two men – were freed.
Around 31 people had remained on the bus throughout the terrifying ordeal.
None of the hostages were injured, police said.
The gunman reportedly boarded the Rio-bound bus at 5.30 am and began threatening passengers.
Around four hours later a sniper shot dead the hijacker.
The identity of the hijacker has not been released.
It is not clear if he made any demands or what his motivation was for taking the hostages.
This is not the first time a gunman has hijacked a public transit bus in Rio.
In 2000, a gunman stormed a passenger bus in a fashionable neighbourhood of the city. The hours-long hijacking of bus 174 was later turned into an award-winning documentary.
The hijacker and one hostage were killed. — NNN-AGENCIES
