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Officials stand near the body of a man shot and killed this morning after the Olympics opening ceremony. Mark Humphrey/PA

Two people have been shot dead at Olympics sites in Rio de Janeiro

Ìn a separate incident, the Brazilian bomb squad have detonated a suspect package near the finishing line of the Olympic men’s cycling road race.

Updated 6.26pm

POLICE SHOT A mugger near the stadium where the Rio Olympics opening ceremony took place and a woman was killed close to another Olympic site, police said Saturday.

The violence has highlighted the task facing an unprecedented force of 85,000 soldiers and police deployed to secure the Olympics.

Rio police said in a statement that a man was mugging people near the Maracana stadium when he was intercepted by one of the police officers sent from another area of Brazil to Rio as part of the huge reinforcements.

The statement said:

The man was carrying out assaults when a military police officer… shot him.

Hours earlier, a female architect was killed while driving by one of the main entrances to the Olympic Boulevard, a redeveloped port area that now hosts the Olympic flame and has become a major tourist attraction.

Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony Police stand near the body of a man who was shot and killed. David J. Phillip David J. Phillip

The woman, 51, was attacked by three armed muggers, police said. She tried to flee and was shot in the head.

The shootings come as the Brazilian bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect package near the finish line of the Olympic men’s cycling road race.

A loud bang was heard on the BBC’s coverage of the road race, with the commentators falling silent for a number of seconds before confirming that the noise had come from near the finish line.

A number of journalists in Rio took to Twitter to confirm that the bang was caused by a controlled explosion carried out by the anti-bomb team, with the riders over 70km away.

Bomb squad agents in protective clothing were operating near the press tribune at the site but the cause of the blast was not immediately clear.

There were no signs of panic or injuries and the race continued

The main focus of security at the Games is in Rio, a city where drug traffickers control large parts of poor neighborhoods.

However, the deployment of troops and police – double that used at the 2012 London Games – also includes the cities of Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Manaus, Salvador and Sao Paulo, where football matches are being played.

Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony Fireworks over the Maracana during the opening ceremony this morning. David J. Phillip David J. Phillip

Meanwhile, Moroccan Olympic boxer Hassan Saada, who has been arrested in Rio for allegedly sexually assaulting two female cleaners, “does not understand the allegations”, the Moroccan Boxing Federation has said.

Officers arrested Saada, 22, from Casablanca, on suspicion of committing the assault on Wednesday, said a police statement released hours before Friday’s opening ceremony.

The statement said:

According to investigations, on 3 August the athlete sexually assaulted two Brazilian room cleaners who were working in the athletes’ village.

Police sources told Brazilian news site G1 that Saada was accused of calling the cleaners to his room on the pretext of asking them a question and then improperly touched them.

The women managed to escape. The site said that two other athletes were allegedly in the room at the time but did not react to the assault.

The Moroccan Boxing Federation said today the women had been in Saada’s room, but that no complaints were heard by the two other boxers in the suite at the time.

“The doors were open, and no noise and no complaints were heard,” it said.

- © AFP, 2016 With reporting from Darragh Peter Murphy.

Read: In photos: The opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro

Read: Belgian police officers attacked by machete-wielding man shouting “Allahu Akbar”

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    Mute Joey_Westland
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    Aug 6th 2016, 5:43 PM

    Shocking.
    The poor woman as running away. Why shoot her dead?

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    Mute Denis Silver
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:22 PM

    The muggers shot her not the cops

    129
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    Mute Chlorines72
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:39 PM

    @Joey_Westland

    “The poor woman as running away. Why shoot her dead?”

    Oy Vey! – You’ve some bl**dy cheek – your friends in the Zionist regime do it to innocent Palestinians on a near daily basis.

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    Mute Dotrice Altrium Hollohatch
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:43 PM

    72 = an idiot…

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    Mute stevenocarroll
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:10 PM

    Brazil – the multicultural paradise the globalists aspire to change Europe into.

    32
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    Mute Team Tariq
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:23 PM

    European Christians have made a right mess of the country alright.

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    Mute Team Tariq
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    Aug 6th 2016, 9:59 PM

    Pretty much Fake, different types of dangerous though, targeting different demographics.

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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 6th 2016, 10:57 PM

    i for one welcome multiculturalism, it increases the sexy mot quotient and thus my chance of bedding one of those fine ladies.

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    Mute Paddy Byrne
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    Aug 6th 2016, 5:52 PM

    Delighted that the mugger was shot dead. Hope it puts out a warning to the other muggers. Feel sorry for the poor woman. Not a very safe city to visit.

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    Mute Mr T
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:28 PM

    It wont

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:49 PM

    Mugging doesn’t warrant death

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    Mute Neil
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:21 PM

    Given that the other muggers had no problem shooting their muggee in the head, it just might warrant it.

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    Mute Jed I. Knight
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:22 PM

    Delighted? Paddy before you’ve even heard any mitigating circumstances you’ve decided you’re ‘delighted’ someone was shot dead? Ever wonder why it’s not a safe city, could the desperate levels of poverty have anything to do with it?

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    Mute David Conroy
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:24 PM

    If the muggers are armed why should anyone be surprised if they get Shot ? Goes with the territory !

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Aug 6th 2016, 8:37 PM

    Is the picture above of the mugger? If so, he was cycling. I can’t catch him isn’t a good enough reason to shoot someone

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    Mute Ava Stapleton
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    Aug 12th 2016, 12:30 PM

    I was in Rio a few years ago and the poverty is unbelievable. Restaurants put their scraps into bins outside and people collect the slop to feed themselves and their families . I saw a grown man who’s job was to walk a pet poodle on the hot pavements , the dog had hand made shoes on to save his paws , the man was barefooted. Says it all really .

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    Mute lousybush
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:07 PM

    Welcome to Rio, just a normal part of life there.

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    Mute Paul Radburn
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:13 PM

    Everyday occurrence only highlighted because of the Olympics

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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 6th 2016, 5:44 PM

    i hope they aren’t putting a higher value on impressing the international sporting community than on the lives of poor people

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    Mute Phil Hegarty
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:43 PM

    The Moroccan lad saw nothing wrong with sexually assaulting 2 women, says a lot about team tariq culture.

    52
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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Aug 6th 2016, 8:38 PM

    Innocent until proven guilty or something along those lines

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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 6th 2016, 10:59 PM

    ah no shoot on sight, that can’t go wrong

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    Mute Padraig
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    Aug 6th 2016, 5:49 PM

    Are the Brazilian cops challenging the Yanks for the gold medal for the number of kills or what.

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    Mute stephen kavanagh
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    Aug 6th 2016, 5:50 PM

    The police sound incredibly trigger happy outside the stadium, poor people being picked off at the rate of four or five a day apparently, you darent sneeze in the direction of the sanctified stadium for fear of being shot

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    Mute emily davison
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:05 PM

    Maybe they it was a message to all the other $cum bags that if you mug a tourist, there will be a chance you’ll be shot in sight

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    Mute Paddy Byrne
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:04 PM

    Also hearing of a controlled explosion at the finish line of a race. Not a safe city at all.

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    Mute Steven Cee
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    Aug 6th 2016, 5:50 PM

    So sad

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    Mute Paul
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:34 PM

    Mad kip

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    Mute Padraig
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:38 PM

    No regard for life in the city of Rio.In the month of May alone this year,there were 40 people killed by police.
    https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2016/07/huge-spike-in-number-of-deaths-committed-by-police-in-rio-ahead-of-the-olympic-games/

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    Mute Tuot tuot
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    Aug 6th 2016, 6:19 PM

    Terrible what happened to that woman. Rio can be a dangerous city but so can any city when your in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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    Mute Martin Flood
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    Aug 6th 2016, 7:50 PM

    Jeepers, how many days are we into the tournament? What’s that… One?

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    Mute Bottleneck
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    Aug 6th 2016, 8:01 PM

    Stray bullet at the equestrian center. NZ team was there and was lucky enough.
    #notasafeplace

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    Mute Tony Doyle
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    Aug 6th 2016, 9:45 PM

    they shoot horses don’t they ?

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    Mute Jester VonDoom
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    Aug 6th 2016, 11:00 PM

    burger meat has to come from somewhere

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    Mute Motherofdivinejebus
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    Aug 7th 2016, 12:30 AM

    Sorry to say, but it Looks like the 2016 Olympics are going to break more records than just sports ones.

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    Mute Lynne Anthony
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    Aug 7th 2016, 4:43 AM

    This will not end well….

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    Mute Gerry Fallon
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    Aug 7th 2016, 9:57 AM

    I have no sympathy for these weasels mugging and killing people. The cop was spot on taking this piece of trash out of the system to rob no more.

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    Mute Anabel Christopher
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