Man in Rio de Janeiro surrenders after holding 17 hostages on hijacked bus

RIO DE JANEIRO — Police in Brazil arrested a man on Tuesday (March 12) after he hijacked a bus and shot two people at a bus station in Rio de Janeiro before holding 17 people hostage for about three hours.

The man, who was not identified by authorities, handed himself over to police, according to a spokesperson for the Rio police.

The bus, which had been scheduled to depart to the city of Juiz de Fora in Minas Gerais state, was waiting at the station platform on Tuesday afternoon when the suspect broke into it after shooting and injuring two people outside the bus, spokesperson Marco Andrade told journalists.

Andrade said the man was arrested and all the hostages, who included elderly people and children, were freed.

Thefts and hijacks targeting buses near Rio's main bus station have become common this year, with the buses in some cases being taken to the city's poor favela neighbourhoods.

The two people hurt by the gunshots received medical care, with one of them taken to a hospital, according to the police.

Local TV GloboNews said the man was wanted by police and was trying to escape from Rio by bus, but authorities did not confirm these details.

Rio's bus station said in a statement earlier on Tuesday that its operations were fully suspended upon police orders.

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