Photographers in the Equestrian Centre of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics had a near-miss overnight, dodging an actual f’kn bullet, believed to have been fired from a military rifle.
The stray projectile pierced the plastic roof of the media tent, where there were close to 100 media personnel working, and landed within metres of photographers.
British freelancer John Stroud described hearing a “really loud bang” around lunch time, and the sense of “general disbelief” that followed, adding:
“We just thought it was something falling off the ceiling, a light or something like that. We went over and took a look, lying on the ground over there was a bullet. A stray round. We were pretty shocked at the time.”
“A member of the photo team here took the bullet away. There was a lot of discussion on radios and a little while later we saw them just outside the door there with military, passing the bullet back and forth and trying to establish where it might have come from.”…
“You have to take a while to process that feeling. It’s fortunate it’s come through in a corner in a clear area. But a few feet in any direction you start getting into tables and computers and journalists and photographers.”
The media centre, which is under heavy guard by armed police and military, is next to a Brazilian military base in Deodoro, and it is thought the bullet may have come from there, possibly from a firing exercise.
A joint investigation into the matter is taking place between police, military and Olympic officials, and a Rio 2016 representative assured media that the incident “100% [has] nothing to do with the games.”
Source: SMH.
Photo: Rob Carr / Getty.
