Brazil police shoot bus hijacker dead in Rio, no hostages hurt

A federal police officer blocks the Rio-Niteroi Bridge, where armed police surrounded a hijacked passenger bus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil August 20, 2019, REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian security forces in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday morning shot dead a man who hijacked a commuter bus on a bridge across Guanabara Bay and took more than three dozen hostages.

None of the hostages was harmed during the four-hour hijacking, Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witschel told reporters at the scene.

He congratulated the police for an "exemplary performance" in a Twitter post but said he regretted the death of the hijacker.

The bridge that connects state capital Rio with the city of Niteroi across the bay is a major commuter thoroughfare, and the hijacking during the morning rush hour triggered travel chaos in the region.

TV images showed massive traffic jams on the bridge, which was swarming with armed security officials.

The hijacker was armed with a pistol and a knife, said Hans Moreno, a passenger on the bus. Moreno said the hijacker never explained the reasons for his actions. — Reuters