Sawt Falasteen - Tourists return to Rio viewpoint after shootout scare

Visitors were stranded for about two hours on Morro Dois Irmaos -- or Two Brothers Hill -- on Monday while fighting raged on a hillside below them between police and members of Comando Vermelho, one of Brazil's largest criminal groups.

Police said when officers arrived at the Vidigal favela, drug traffickers opened fire.

No injuries were reported in the police operation, in which three people were arrested.

The gunfire did not appear to faze tourists, who ascended Morro Dois Irmaos at dawn on Tuesday to watch the sunrise over Rio's sweeping panorama of mountains and curved beaches.

"At first we were a little worried, but we knew that coming here at dawn was an experience not to be missed," Matteo Protti-Barbieri, a 23-year-old French student, told AFP.

Nathan Ferdinands, a 23-year-old Australian student, said he had heard about the shootout but also ultimately decided to carry on with his visit.

"From what we've seen in South America so far, it's been a pretty safe place. Even walking around the favelas this morning, everyone has been super nice and we felt really safe," he said.

Rio received more than 2.1 million international visitors in 2025, a record for the seaside city.

Monday's incident came almost six months after the deadliest police operation in Brazilian history, on October 28, which left more than 120 dead across favelas in Rio's North Zone.

R.Shaban--SF-PST