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Rio Olympics Media Bus Hit By Gunfire

Rio Olympics Media Bus Hit By Gunfire
A person sits on an official media bus after a window shattered when driving accredited journalists to the Main Transport Mall from the Deodoro venue of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, August 9, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
A person sits on an official media bus after a window shattered when driving accredited journalists to the Main Transport Mall from the Deodoro venue of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, August 9, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

A bus carrying journalists at the Rio Games was hit by gunfire on a highway between Olympic venues on Tuesday, witnesses said. No one was seriously injured in the incident.

The bus was making its way from the Games basketball venue to the main Olympic park when, according to passengers, two shots were heard hitting the vehicle. Windows shattered and flying glass left two people with minor lacerations.

Security concerns have hung over the Games in Rio.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
Security concerns have hung over the Games in Rio.

”We were shot at. I mean we could hear the report of the gun,” said Sherryl “Lee” Michaelson, a retired U.S. air force captain who is working for a basketball publication in Rio.

Brazilian police were not immediately available for comment.

Violent street crime in Rio has left its mark on South America’s first Olympic Games. On Saturday, a bullet hit the equestrian center, missing journalists there by just a few feet. That bullet was suspected to have been fired by a gang member trying to shoot down a police blimp or drone, officials said.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh and Caroline Stauffer)

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