Stray bullet lands in media centre at equestrian and bomb squad carries out controlled explosion in cycling

A BULLET has been fired into a press room at the Rio Olympics, while police were called on to make a ‘controlled explosion’ at the finish line of the road race.

A member of the Brazilian National Force holds a bullet inside the media centre at the Olympic Equestrian Centre after it went through the wall of the media centre.

SHOCKED photographers and journalists have told how close people were to being hit by a stray bullet that punched through the roof of a packed media tent at the Olympic equestrian venue in Rio.

The bullet landed within metres of media during a lunch break of the opening day of Olympic competition at the Deodoro equestrian venue, which is surrounded by an expansive military base.

No-one was injured by the bullet, which left a hole in the roof of the media tent. Horses worth millions of dollars were competing at the time just 100 metres away.

Members of the military swiftly took the bullet away.

English freelance journalist Jon Stroud said he was left in “disbelief” after it dawned just how dangerous the moment could have been.

“We were in here in the lunch break ... and just heard a really loud bang right behind us. We just thought it was something falling off the ceiling, a light or something like that,” Stroud said.

“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 bullet is seen inside the media centre at the Olympic Equestrian Centre after it went through the wall of the media centre during competition in the Individual Dressage event.

Venue operations staff look at a bullet hole inside the media centre at the Olympic Equestrian Centre after a bullet went through the wall of the media centre during competition.

“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.”

No Australian competitors were in action at the time and competition wasn’t stopped after the incident.

Stroud said the dramatic moment had unfolded when the press tent was at it busiest. Around one hundred working media were in the room.

“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,” he said.

“It’s obviously a military type round, it was very clearly not from a hand gun but from a rifle. It was very clearly a military type round.

A member of Brazil’s military bomb disposal squad at the finish line for the Olympic road race.

“Though no official statement has been made, we can just suppose it was probably a stray.

“But stray bullets do just as much damage as aimed ones.”

Stroud said the heavy military presence in Deodoro had felt comforting but he questioned why live firing exercises were occurring during the Olympic Games.

“We have heard gunfire over the last few days from the firing ranges and some of it very close by,” Stroud said.

“There’s nothing you can really do about it. As long as they can establish what’s happened, how it’s happened and stop it happening. That’s fine. If anything I feel a bit amazed that during an Olympic competition, albeit the fact we’re on a military site, that there could be any kind of sanctioned live fire within range of any kind of where we all are. I can’t begin to imagine who thought that was a good thing.”

The IOC are expected to hold a briefing on the incident.

Originally published as Stray bullet lands in media centre at equestrian and bomb squad carries out controlled explosion in cycling