The pending Rio games have been a disaster for months, and now news that mangled human body parts have washed up on a Brazil beach — just feet away from where the world’s Olympic athletes will compete a mere five weeks from now.
The recent unsavory event has further tainted the confidence in Rio to host a safe Olympics at this time.
The mutilated parts found on the shores of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro included a foot and other limbs, officials said. It’s unclear how they ended up on the sand, with investigators simply saying they washed up from the sea.
Was it a boating accident? A murder? No one knows for certain at this time, but the ghastly aftermath offered up an unwelcome public spectacle in a city already under the microscope.
Rio Police roped off much of the beach after the grisly discovery, as they investigated the mysterious human remains. But unfortunately for the Olympics, the police tape-covered shore is just yards away from 2016 Olympic beach volleyball complex…
While police have not identified a possible victim or a motive in the slaying, Rio de Janeiro has been rocked with days of deadly gun battles as police attempt to recapture a drug trafficker who escaped a Brazilian hospital.
The wave of violence since the escape is especially worrying as the Olympics draw near. The summer games, which start Aug. 5, were intended to show off an economic boom that has since fizzled in Latin America’s biggest country. Now the games come as the state of Rio de Janeiro awaits emergency funding of 2.9 billion reais — about $892 million — to ensure financing for public services.
The Olympics also will play out with a backdrop of political instability as Brazil’s Senate tries suspended President Dilma Rousseff, who is accused of accounting tricks in the government budget, to determine whether she will be ousted for good. The trial is expected to finish after the games.
Concerns about the Zika virus have also prompted many athletes to skip the 2016 games.
U.S. health officials have concluded that infections in pregnant women can cause birth defects and potentially severe developmental problems, leading many commentators to speculate that this Olympics could be as sparsely attended as the 1980 Moscow games in the former Soviet Union…
