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Bullet hits Olympic games media centre

A bullet has reportedly hit a media centre at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, sparking secur...



Bullet hits Olympic games medi...
Off The Ball Radio

Bullet hits Olympic games media centre

A bullet has reportedly hit a media centre at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, sparking security fears.

A journalist at the Olympic Equestrian venue claims the bullet tore through the canvas roof, narrowly missing a New Zealand team official.

Earlier today a controlled explosion was carried out on an unattended bag at the finish line of the men's road race.

A bomb squad has destroyed the backpack and several police cars were called to the scene as the 237.5km race continued.

A Rio 2016 spokesman confirmed: "The security services found a suspicious package close to the cycle road race finish line in Copacabana and as a precaution decided to perform a controlled explosion. There is no impact to the race, which is ongoing."

Sky News' Paul Kelso said he heard a "very loud bang" from behind a grandstand. One theory is the bag belonged to a homeless man.

The incident comes on what has been a shambolic opening day of the Olympics proper, with spectators queuing for hours and some missing events all together.

Several events were played out in front of eerily empty stands.

"We apologise for everybody standing in line outside the venues," Games spokesman Mario Andrada told reporters.

"We need to upgrade that part of the Games. We moved people from Rio 2016 (organisation) to speed up the mag and bag (security checks) and within the next hours we will be in much better shape."

Another incident saw spectators leaving Friday's opening ceremony confronted by the body of a man shot dead near the Maracana Stadium.

Multiple gunshots were heard earlier by photographers from The Associated Press and a shooter was seen running from the scene before fleeing in a car.

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