Authorities in Brazil say 28 demonstrators have been arrested during violent protests that left several people injured, including a news cameraman who was in a coma fighting for his life.
More than 1000 protesters angered over hikes in public transport fares overran a train, metro and bus depot in Rio de Janeiro late on Thursday, in the latest flare-up of violence ahead of this year's World Cup games.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, who stormed into the station, refusing to pay their fares and shouting, "the station is free."
Protesters - some clad in black, others wearing masks - also destroyed automatic bank teller machines and threw rocks at riot police.
Some demonstrators, meanwhile, vandalised ticket machines and set a barricade ablaze.
Among the injured was cameraman Santiago Andrade of the Bandeirantes television network, who was hit in the head by a projectile - possibly a Molotov cocktail or a tear gas canister, officials said.
"Andrade is in very serious condition in the intensive care unit of the Souza Aguiar Hospital, where he was underwent a neurosurgical procedure after receiving a blow to the head," a hospital official said.
Officials said the device had been thrown by protesters, but the O Globo News wrote on its website that it had been hurled by police.
The protest, called by the Pasa Livre (free passage) movement, was the latest violence ahead of the monthlong World Cup, which kicks off June 12.
The protest started peacefully but turned violent, as demonstrators fought running battles with police, who charged the crowd in an attempt to clear the area around the main bus station.
