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A huge float carried by an out-of-control truck at the Rio de Janeiro samba parade struck at least six people, seriously injuring two.
The accident late Sunday, which coincided with heavy drizzle, marred the start of the all-night samba dance-off at the Sambodromo stadium.
The truck, topped with one of the extravagant floats that symbolize the world's most famous carnival, was at the tail end of the Paraiso do Tuiuti samba school parade -- the first of six schools competing overnight.
It drove too close to a fence at the entrance to the competition piste, leaving several people unable to escape. One woman, a news photographer, had a leg badly crushed.
A woman struck by a float of the Paraiso do Tuiuti samba school on the first night of Rio Carnival is carried into an ambulance, on February 26, 2017
"There are six people injured, two in a serious state," a fire department officer told journalists.
Despite the incident and pools of blood on the rain spattered ground, the party soon got back in swing.
Brazilians living through two years of steep recession and nearly 13 percent unemployment have grasped this year's carnival as a chance to let off steam. In Rio especially, the thrill of hosting the Olympics six months ago has given way to the grim reality of rising crime and near bankruptcy of the state government.
So there were intense cheers around the packed stadium of 70,000 people the moment that drumming began to thunder up from the piste.
Samba queens dressed in sequined micro-costumes and vast feathered headdresses danced at dizzying speed. Behind them came armies of drummers and costumed dancers, interspersed by the floats.
Each school picks a theme for its parade and is judged according to strict criteria. Another six schools were to parade on Monday night, with the champion being announced on Wednesday, the start of Lent in mostly Roman Catholic Brazil.
(AFP)
