COP30 events will be safe, Brazil official says after Rio violence

Events next week in Rio and other Brazilian cities linked to the COP30 climate summit will be safe for visitors, a Brazilian ministry official said, seeking to reassure attendees after a bloody police crackdown on a drug gang that led to dozens of deaths.



The deadliest police operation in Brazil's history killed at least 132 people, public defenders said on Wednesday. Grisly images showed a favela street lined with corpses found overnight by local residents.



U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will join Brazilian officials in presiding over next month's summit, urged Brazil to mount a prompt investigation and to ensure any police action followed international human rights law and standards, his spokesman said.



"I can tell you that the secretary-general is gravely concerned by the large number of casualties during a police operation conducted yesterday in the favelas in Rio de Janeiro," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.



Rio's mayor and governor have insisted that the violence was part of a crackdown on crime and had nothing to do with the summit events being staged across three cities – Rio, Sao Paulo and the coastal Amazon city of Belem. Brazilian police held a security drill in Belem on Tuesday.