The man who held 17 bus passengers hostage at the Rodoviaria Novo Rio bus station in central Rio de Janeiro surrendered after about three hours of tense negotiations. There were also children and elderly people on board. Two people were killed after the gunman fired his shot. At least two people were injured, including a 34-year-old man already taken to hospital in serious condition. Officers from the police's special operations battalion, he said CNN Brazil, they negotiated for a long time for the release of the hostages, but the man repeatedly rejected each proposal. Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro Governor Cláudio Castro had called an emergency meeting with state security leaders. The man was arrested, while all the hostages were freed.
Station evacuated, snipers positioned
The bus station area has been completely evacuated and hundreds of people with planned trips are waiting along the sidewalks outside waiting for directions. Snipers were deployed on site. There is still no information on the identity of the kidnapper and the reasons for the kidnapping. According to the first reconstructions, it seems that the vehicle – for which 37 tickets had been sold for the upper part and 6 for the lower part – had returned to the station shortly after departure, probably due to a defect in the vehicle .
Update
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