Nine trampled to death at Brazilian favela funk party as police chased armed suspects
- Police were chasing two men riding a motorcycle when suspects fired guns against them in Paraisopolis, a poor neighbourhood of Sao Paulo
- The suspects entered a party playing funk music, causing a stampede, the police said
At least nine people were trampled to death in a mass panic at a party in Brazil’s Sao Paulo.
They were trampled to death on Sunday at a “Baile Funk” party in the favela of Paraisopolis in the south of Sao Paulo, the news portal G1 reported, citing health authorities.
Seven other people were injured.
The dead included a woman, seven men and a 14-year-old boy, police Lieutenant Colonel Emerson Massera, said.
He said a unit of 38 military police had carried out an operation in the favela when two men on a motorcycle fired at the troops before fleeing in the direction of a nearby street party, where they continued firing, sparking the stampede.
He said some 5,000 people had gathered for a weekend street party popular in poorer districts of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.