A gunman holding a busload of passengers hostage in Rio de Janeiro was shot dead by police on Tuesday, local media reported, ending the hours-long hijacking.
At least 16 people were trapped on the bus after it was commandeered by the gunman on a heavily transited bridge connecting Rio with the neighbouring city of Niteroi.
Heavily armed police, including snipers, surrounded the bus as they negotiated with the gunman, who G1 news reported was armed with a gun and gasoline.
The gunman reportedly boarded the bus at 5:30 am (local time) and began threatening passengers.
Several lanes of traffic on the busy Rio-Niteroi bridge spanning Guanabara Bay was paralysed during the hostage situation, with commuters forced to abandon their cars and evacuate on foot.
A live broadcast of the scene showed five ambulances parked near the bus, receiving hostages as they are released.
The gunman - a young man wearing a white T-shirt and dark-colored trousers - poked his head out of the bus at one point, showing his face, G1 reported.
It is not clear if the hijacker made any demands or what was motivation was for taking the hostages.
This is not the first time a gunman has hijacked a public transit bus in the Brazillian city.
In 2000, a gunman stormed a passenger bus in a fashionable neighborhood of the city. The hours long hijacking of bus 174 was later turned into an award-winning documentary.
The hijacker and one hostage were killed.
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