Rio slum shoot-out kills at least five

A shoot-out between police and alleged drug dealers in a slum area of northern Rio de Janeiro left at least five people dead, including a 15-year-old boy, police said.

“Thank God we had no casualties among our soldiers,” police spokesman Flavio Loureiro said.

The shoot-out started early yesterday afternoon when a police patrol on a regular mission in the slums of Manguinhos and Mandela, close to the city’s express avenue leading to the international airport, was intercepted by a gang of dealers, Loureiro said.

The police version of events could not immediately be independently confirmed.

People living in favelas (Portuguese for slums) regularly accuse the police of killing innocent people and then labelling victims as drug traffickers.

“It was a fierce fight. But three bandits were hit first. They died afterwards,” said Loureiro.

After police left the slum, dealers tried to organise a protest on a main street, but police reinforcements stopped the demonstration and two more people were killed, the spokesman said.

Among those killed was a boy of around 15. His body was turned over to his mother at a nearby hospital, the spokesman said.

On Wednesday evening and dawn on Thursday police also clashed with alleged drug traffickers in the hillside slum of Pavao-Pavaonzinho, near the famous beach areas of Copacabana, killing three people.

The incident angered dwellers and hundreds went down the hill throwing stones against buildings and setting fire to cars parked on the streets. The slum residents claimed that the those killed were innocent people and authorities said the incidents were being investigated.