DOES Brazil’s Christ shed a tear looking down over the sadness below him? It’s a question Rio de Janeiro’s residents ask as they gaze up to what has become the most dangerous wonder of the world.
Last Friday the steep 4km Corcovado jungle trail to the giant Christ the Redeemer statue was closed the day after a Polish man was stabbed, one of 58 people to have been robbed along the trail in just 10 days. More than 150 people have been robbed this year.
Young, armed criminals from nearby favelas (slums) have been sneaking in from the mountainside, laying in wait and pouncing before disappearing back from where they came.
Five men aged between 18 and 28 have been arrested and charged over the stabbing.
Locals have become so concerned that they’ve taped makeshift signs to trees and poles printed with a handgun warning in English and Portuguese: “Be cautious. Do not risk your life.”
Read the rest of my story for news.com.au here.
