Handball player Bojana Popovic carries the flag of Montenegro during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on August 5. Photo: Beta/AP /Markus Schreiber.

Unknown attackers stole the official car of the Montenegrin International Olympic Committee, IOC, and robbed members of the delegation from Montenegro near the airport of Rio de Janeiro, the Montenegrin Olympic Committee said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday evening when representatives of Montenegro were heading from the airport into the city by car. The attackers provoked the accident, and then, at gunpoint, robbed the Montenegrins’ personal belongings and took the car.

Montenegro’s Olympic Committee says its official, a diplomat from the embassy in Argentina and two others were hijacked on the highway leading from a Rio de Janeiro airport.

Media reported the names of the victims as Nikola Djurovic, the official of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, Miljan Mugosa, a diplomat in Argentina, and two representatives of the Montenegrin diaspora in Latin America – Bozidar Saranovic and Nikolas Vukasovic.

“Brazilian police have launched an investigation after escorting the Montenegrins to the hotel,” the Montenegrin Committee said.

They said that “very brave action” by the Montenegrins had “prevented an incident with even worse consequences and no one was injured.”

Since the incident, the Montenegrin committee has advised its competitors not to venture outside designated sporting venues.

The Montenegrin Foreign Ministry said a protest note will be sent to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.

It also called on Montenegrin citizens in Rio to “move in organized groups and to avoid individual arrangements when going to sports events,“ due to unforeseen situations that may occur” during the Olympics.

In its third Olympics since it regained independence in 2006, Montenegro is competing in Rio in athletics, handball, judo, sailing, swimming, tennis and water polo, with 34 athletes.