At least two are dead after a new seaside bike path was hit by a wave and collapsed, damaging the city’s credibility ahead of the summer Games

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A newly built elevated bike path has collapsed into the sea in Rio de Janeiro, killing at least two people and dealing another blow to the city’s credibility as an Olympic host.



A huge wave swept away a 50-metre stretch of the Tim Maia ciclovia, which opened four months ago at a cost of 44.7m reais ($12.6m) – and had been heralded as a major legacy project from the 2016 Games.

Local media said at least five people were on the path when it crashed down into the sea. One person was rescued and the bodies of two men were recovered from the sea.



Pedro Paulo Carvalho, the municipal secretary, said a third person thought to have been on the bridge when the wave struck was still missing.

Carvalho warned it was too early to say what had caused the accident, but said an investigation had been launched.



“It’s clear that an accident like this is unpardonable,” Carvalho told the Globo television network.

TV images showed the void that suddenly opened up on the bike route near São Conrado, where it runs above the craggy Atlantic coastline.



Helicopters fished the two victims from the water and laid them out on São Conrado beach, where a crowd of beachgoers gathered around them.

The accident came just hours after the Olympic flame was lit in Greece, at the start of a 15-week journey that will culminate with the 5 August opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.



Eduardo Paes, the Rio mayor, who was in Greece for the lighting of the Olympic torch, said in a statement that he was cutting short his visit and would return to follow the investigation into the accident.

When the structure was inaugurated, Paes hailed it as “the most beautiful bike path in the world”.



Concremat, the company which built the cycle path, released a brief statement following the accident: “The priorities at the moment are to ensure treatment of the victims and their families and evaluate the causes of the accident.”

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Coming just a little more than 100 days before the Olympics, the accident a major blow to Rio’s prestige and raises questions about the engineering and safety standards of the host.



In an emailed statement, Rio’s Olympic organizers said “our thoughts and sympathies are with the people and their families and friends affected by the tragic accident”.

The ciclovia is part of the city’s efforts to improve transport links before the 2016 Games. It runs alongside the coastal expressway between two of the main Olympic centres: the south zone, which will stage the rowing and triathlon, and the main Olympic Park in Barra de Tijuca.



“I almost died,” Guilherme Miranda told the Globo newspaper. “Where’s the mayor, where’s the engineer who did this work? It’s appalling to see people dying in front of you. Someone has to give a response for that 45 million [reais]. It just opened and is already cracked in several places.”



