(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
Repair work is beginning on Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue after the iconic monument was damaged by lightning.
Brazil wants the statue looking its best for the FIFA Football World Cup which kicks off in June this year.
Nikki Canning has the details.
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The Christ the Redeemer statue is believed to have suffered damage to its head and two fingers in two recent electric storms.
The city's trademark monument stands 38 metres high and looks down at the city from its home atop Corcovado mountain.
It also offers an access point at its base which is allowing repair workers to reach precarious spots like the top of the statue's head and long extended arms.
The engineer in charge of repairing the figure, Clesio Dutra, says they are planning to add to existing lightning rods on the structure to try to prevent future damage in storms.
"So, we are going to augment the lightning rods. The crown of the head is a lightning rod, but it isn't reaching all the way to the middle finger where the clouds generally come when coming from the east and the sea. So we're going to extend the lightning rods until the middle finger. The work is already approved and the structure is very sturdy."
Clesio Dutra says the repair workers will take their time and proceed with caution.
"I would say the most difficult thing is the safety. I think it's safety above everything. So, this is what will happen, we take a little more time and we'll work outside the hours of visitation, in the morning or at night, the hours of summer help. We're not going to take any risks."
In the meantime, tourists are still flocking to Rio's favourite monument.
Priest Father Omar is backing up the workers' efforts with an appeal to a higher authority.
He's performed a blessing on the statue, saying he hopes to ensure the repairs go well and ward off any damage from potential future storms.
"We have this continuing worry about the storm, but we will guarantee a good repair job, the flow of tourists, and at the same time increasing the atmospheric protection."
Brazil's national weather service says the statue is struck by lightning an average of six times per year.
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