Italian tourist killed in favela in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro
RIO DE JANEIRO – Police say an Italian tourist has been killed in a favela near the centre of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro in an area fought over by rival drug trafficking gangs.
Rio de Janeiro police on Thursday identified the dead tourist as Roberto Bardella and said another Italian tourist named Rino Polato was found unharmed at an entrance to the Morro dos Prazeres favela early in the day.
Authorities say the men were touring South America on motorcycles that were found in Morro dos Prazeres. Investigators believe the Italians got lost in the favela.
Rio de Janeiro’s pacification effort has a police station in the slum but the program has been deeply affected by budget cuts amid an economic crisis.
Police have been attacked in the favela several times in recent years.
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