Riot puts torch security in spotlight
Rio's top security official on Thursday vowed to review security for the Olympic torch after rioting protesters blocked the relay ceremony and apparently extinguished the flame.
The violent clashes on Wednesday night in Angra dos Reis, a coastal resort south of Rio, cast a shadow over final preparations for South America's first Olympics, starting on Aug 5.
In another worry for organizers, Rio subway employees threatened to go on strike on the eve of the Games if they do not get a 9.8 percent salary hike, raising the possibility of transport chaos for some 500,000 tourists expected to attend.
Rio de Janeiro state security secretary Jose Mariano Beltrame said that policing during the torch relay - which will have visited more than 300 Brazilian cities by the time of the opening ceremony at Maracana stadium - needs improving.
"There has never been a problem," he was quoted as saying by G1 news site. "Yesterday there was one. This needs to be reevaluated and we will be paying more attention to this question."
"Extinguishing the Olympic torch is a crime," he said.
Agence France-Presse
(China Daily 07/30/2016 page10)
