Man attempts to put out Olympic torch

A Brazilian man has been arrested after he tried to extinguish the Olympic Torch with a heavy spray of water as it passed through the town of Maracaju.

olympic torch

Source: AAP

A man has been arrested for trying to extinguish the Olympic torch by throwing a bucket of water over it as it passed through his farming town of Maracaju in central Brazil.

Police arrested the 27-year-old at the scene on Sunday for damaging public property but the Olympic flame continued to burn, video footage showed.

The crime can carry a sentence of between six months and three years in prison.

"He said it was a joke, a dare on Facebook," an officer in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul said.

Local Olympic organising committee Rio 2016 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The video, available on YouTube, showed a heavy spray of water thrown indiscriminately over the group around the torch bearer by someone out of view.

The man was freed on bail after paying police $A400.

The incident comes a week after a rare jaguar was shot and killed after performing in an Olympic torch ceremony, leading to an outcry from animal rights activists around the world.

The torch is on a 20,000km voyage through about 300 Brazilian cities before arriving in Rio de Janeiro for the Games' opening ceremony on August 5.

Although most of the infrastructure for the Olympics is finished, Rio is scrambling to complete construction of a new metro line to help visitors reach the Games' venues.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world