An armed man has been shot after he held dozens of people hostage on a bus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and threatening to set the vehicle on fire, Brazilian police have said.
The Federal Highway Police said negotiations were under way with the man who has been holding 37 people hostage since about 5.30am local time on a busy bridge linking the suburb of Sao Goncalo to central Rio.
At least six hostages were released during the siege and police said they told authorities the man had poured petrol in the bus and threatened to set it on fire. Officials said the man identified himself as a policeman but this has not been confirmed.
The man did not make any particular demands and appears to to have ‘psychological problems’, a spokesman for the traffic police said on TV Globo.
Rio’s elite police force known as BOPE is in charge of the negotiations, and a sniper was placed nearby.
Traffic has been blocked in both directions on the bridge, with hundreds of vehicles stuck in queues. Sao Goncalo is a violent, impoverished suburb separated from Rio by Guanabara Bay.
| Posted: at | |
TRENDING GISTS 
Arrest Tompolo Now! Nigerian Doctor Dares EFCC To Go After Niger Delta Militant Leader, Tompolo
Expect Davido Someday As Governor Of Osun – Formere Senator Ben Murray-Bruce Declares
Panic In Abuja As Pastor Shoots Two Immigration Officers After Being Mistaken Them For Robbers
Retired Teacher, Mallam Kabiru Killed, Wife Abducted As Bandits Invade Zamfara School Quarters
Army Busts Gunrunning Syndicate in Plateau, Two Arrested With AK-47 (Photos)
Ringside Rumble? Fans Hype Possible Boxing Showdown Between Small Doctor And Portable
16-Year-Old Maths Wizard, Olamide Aderibigbe Scores 336 Overall In UTME; Scores 98 in Maths