Security review as Rio Games loom

Brazil’s government, on alert after the truck massacre in France, was reviewing its security preparations for the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and staging drills against possible attacks.

Already on guard because of recent attacks in Paris, Brussels and Orlando, Brazilian officials were meeting in Rio to assess preparations for the Games, which start on August 5. The city is expecting up to 500,000 foreign visitors.

“Brazil is confident about its preparations. Personnel are ready, all the protocols have been followed and we are employing the most modern security and defence techniques,” Sports Minister Leonardo Picciani said.

In addition to a deployment of about 85,000 police, soldiers and other security personnel, over the twice the size of the force used at the London Olympics in 2012, Brazil has been co-operating with foreign intelligence services and militaries to share information, tactics and strategy.

It is not yet clear whether Thursday’s killings in Nice had any connection to a militant group or was the solitary work of the lone attacker, a 31-year-old Tunisian living in France who was killed by police.

However, the latter scenario, involving a ‘lone wolf’, is the sort of attack that security officials say is most worrisome because known networks are easier to track than random people.

Yesterday, state police officials in Rio were conducting security drills, including a simulation of the detention of a terrorist involving a helicopter and a Swat team.