Suspected bomber dead after trying to enter Brazil Supreme Court ahead of G20
Early indications are that it was a suicide, and no one else was hurt, vice-governor says
A man killed himself with a bomb outside Brazil’s Supreme Court after trying to enter the building on Wednesday, officials said, stirring security concerns before the country hosts global leaders from the Group of 20 major economies.
The blasts come five days before the G20 heads of state meet in Rio de Janeiro, followed by a state visit to the capital Brasilia by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The first of two explosions went off on Wednesday evening in a car park near the court building and a second blast came seconds later in front of the court, where the man’s body was found.
Federal District Vice-Governor Celina Leao said preliminary information suggested the man had killed himself with explosives after trying to enter the Supreme Court. She said he owned a nearby car in which another explosion blew open the boot.
Leao said she hoped it was the crime of a “lone wolf”, but she could not be sure. Police said they had not made a final identification of the dead man as they were confronting the risk of additional explosives on the body.
“His first action was to explode the car. Then he approached the Supreme Court and tried to get in the building. He failed and then there were the other explosions,” Leao said in a news conference.
