Man gunned down outside Maracana just hours after Olympic opening ceremony

Aug 06, 2016

A MAN lies dead on the ground after being shot outside Maracana stadium – just hours after Olympic opening ceremony spectators thronged out of the stadium.

Tragic images show the unnamed man lying next to his bike in the street after being gunned down in the early hours of this morning.

rio body — Shocking images emerged of the dead body just hours after the Rio opening ceremony had taken place

Police surrounded the body of the man, who was shot dead near the Maracana stadium where the ceremony had taken place — Police surrounded the body of the man, who was shot dead near the Maracana stadium where 80,000 attended the showpiece

The victim had apparently been riding his bike along a road near the stadium when the shooting occurred

Dozens of police crowded around the body as he was covered in a blanket.

The shocking scene came where 80,000 spectators had only hours earlier left a spectacular curtain-raiser at the Rio stadium.

The Brazilian city is infamous for its murder rate, with 35 killings for every 100,000 residents last year.

But the latest image so close to the Olympic venue is likely to raise concerns about safety during the two-week event.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators and athletes are descending on the city for South America’s first Olympics.

The killing followed a bomb scare on the nearby Copacabana beach.

Bomb squads were forced to inspect a suspect bag with police robots deployed outside the beach volleyball venue.

The incident was later discovered to be a false alarm.

Inside the stadium, supermodel Giselle Bundchen starred while the Olympic cauldron was lit by marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima – who was denied gold at Athens in 2004 after being accosted by an onlooker dressed as a Leprechaun.