Violence did not affect archery events: organisers

Gunfire broke out near the Rio Paralympic archery venue, but the violence had no bearing on the ongoing archery event, organisers said.

Discussing the violence near the Sambodrome on Sunday, Rio organisers' spokesman Mario Andrada on Monday said the archery event was not affected, reports Xinhua.

"This was very intense late Saturday and even more intense on Sunday afternoon. The police have intervened, there was a police operation in the area. They closed the Paulo de Frontin road for a while and then they opened it. Despite this burst of violence, there was no impact on the archery competition at the Sambodrome," Mario said.

"The operations of intelligence have been intensified to stop new areas where violence could take place," he added.

It is reported that fierce gunfights erupted among criminal gangs at Rio's favelas (slums) of Turano, Chacrinha and Salgueiro.

The incidents took place when the archery event was running at the Sambadrome, which is located around two km from these favelas.

A total of 90 military policemen and special police commandos were rushed to the scene to curb and stop violence.

--IANS

gau/vt