Protesters took to the streets yesterday, on day 86 of the Olympic torch relay, disrupting the relay in protest of lack of public transport and the Rio state’s late payment of salaries. The attack happened while in Angra dos Reis, the final city of day 86 and only the second city the torch had been to in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
They attacked the relay and were driven off by police with tear gas and rubber bullets, and the torch bearer at the time was rushed onto a nearby bus after the flame was extinguished.
The relay was temporarily interrupted, but was then restarted at the next stage “out of consideration to the inhabitants of the city who wanted to attend the relay,” after the situation was evaluated by their security team.
The torch is nearing the end of the relay which will last about 94 days and reach over 300 cities. On August 5th it will light the Olympic flame in the Macarana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Check out this video via NBC News on Facebook:
The torch continued through six more cities in Rio today.
OMG! And the Games haven’t even begun…